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PUBLIC PAPERS AND ADDRESSES 



OF 



BENJAMIN HARRISON, 



TWENTY-THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 



March 4. 1889, to March 4, 1893. 



WASHING T O N ; 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1893. 



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PUBLIC PAPERS AND ADDRESSES 



BENJAMIN HARRISON 



LETTERS OF ACCEPTANCE. 
I. 

ACCEPTING FIRST NOMINATION, 1888. 

Hon. M. M. EsTEE and others, 

Committee^ etc.: 

Gentlemen : When your committee visited me, on the Fourth 
of July last, and presented the official announcement of my nomi- 
nation for the Presidency of the United States by the Republican 
convention, I promised as soon as practicable to communicate to 
you a more formal acceptance of the nomination. vSince that time 
the work of receiving and addressing, almost daily, large delega- 
tions of my fellow-citizens has not only occupied all of my time, but 
has in some measure rendered it unnecessary for me to use this letter 
as a medium of communicating to the public my views upon the 
questions involved in the campaign. I appreciate very highly the 
confidence and respect manifested by the convention, and accept the 
nomination with a feeling of gratitude and a full sense of the 
responsibilities which accompany it. 

It is a matter of congratulation that the declarations of the 
Chicago convention upon the questions that now attract the interest 
of our people are so clear and emphatic. There is further cau.se of 
congratulation in the fact that the convention utterances of the 
Democratic party, if in any degree uncertain or contradictory, can 
now be judged and interpreted by executive acts and messages, and 
by definite propositions in legislation. This is especially true of 
what is popularly known as the tariff question. The issue can not 



2 Public Papers and Addresses of Bcnjauiin Harrison. 

now be obscured. It is not a contest between schedules, but between 
wide-apart principles. The foreign competitors for our market have, 
with quick instinct, seen how one issue of this contest ma}- bring 
them advantage, and our own people are not so dull as to miss or 
neglect the grave interests that are involved for them. The as.sault 
upon our protective system is open and defiant. Protection is 
assailed as unconstitutional in law, or as vicious in principle, and 
those who hold such views sincerely can not stop short of an abso- 
lute elimination from • ar tariff laws of the principle of protection. 
The Mills bill is oily a step, but it is toward an object that the 
leaders of Democratic thought and legislation have clearly in mind. 
The importai.c question is not so much the length of the step as the 
direction of it. Judged by the executive message of December last, 
by the Mills bill, by the debates in Congress, and by the St. Louis 
platform, the Democratic party will, if supported by the country, 
puce the tariff laws upon a purely revenue basis. This is practical 
free trade — free trade in the English sense. The legend upon the 
banner may not be "Free Trade"— it may be the more obscure 
motto, "Tariff Reform;" but neither the banner nor the inscription 
is conclusive, or, indeed, very important. The assault itself is the 
important fact. 

Those who teach that the import duty upon foreign goods sold 

in our market is paid by the consumer, and that the price of the 

domestic competing article is enhanced to the amount of the duty 

on the imported article — that every million of dollars collected for 

customs duties represents many millions more which do not reach 

the treasury, but are paid by our citizens as the increased cost of 

domestic productions resulting from the tariff laws — may not 

intend to discredit in the minds of others our .system of levying duties 

on competing foreign products, but it is clearly alread\- discredited in 

their own. We can not doubt, without impugning their integrit>-, 

that if free to act upon their convictions they would so revise our 

laws as to lay the burden of the customs revenue upon articles that 

are not produced in this country, and to place upon the free list all 

competing foreign products. I do not stop to refute this theory as 

to the effect of our tariff duties. Those who advance it are students 

of maxims and not of the markets. They may be safely allowed to 

call their project "tariff reform," if the people understand that in 

the end the argument compels free trade in all competing products. 

This end may not be reached abruptly, and its approach may be 

accompanied with some expressions of sympathy for our protected 

industries and our working people, but it will certainly come if 

these early steps do not arouse the people to effective resistance. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 3 

The Republican party liolds that a protective tariff is constitu- 
tional, wholesome, and necessary. We do not offer a fixed schedule, 
but a principle. We will revise the schedule, modify rates, but 
always with an intelligent provision as to the effect upon domestic 
productions and the wages of our working people. We believe it 
to be one of the worthy objects of tariff legislation to preserve the 
American market for American producers, and to maintain the 
American scale of wages by adequate discriminative duties upoi. 
foreign competing products. The effect of lower rates and larger 
importations upon the public revenue is contingent and doubtful, 
but not so the effect upon American production and American 
wages. Less work and lower wages must be accepted as the inevi- 
table result of the increased offering of foreign goods in our market. 
By way of recompense for this reduction in his wages, and the loss 
of the American market, it is suggested that the diminished wages 
of the working man will have an undiminished purchasing power, 
and that he will be able to make up for the loss of the home market 
by an enlarged foreign market. Our workingmen ha\e the settle- 
ment of the question in their own hands. They now obtain higher 
wages and live more comfortabl>- than those of any other country. 
They will make choice of the substantial advantages they have in 
hand and the deceptive promises and forecasts of these theorizing 
reformers. The\- will decide for themselves and for their country 
whether the protective system shall be continued or destroyed. 

The fact of a Treasury surplus, the amount of which is variously 
stated, has directed public attention to a consideration of the methods 
by which the national income may best be reduced to the level of 
wise and neces.sary expenditure. This condition has been seized 
upon by those who are hostile to protective customs duties as an 
advantageous base of attack upon our tariff laws. They have 
magnified and nursed the surplus, which thev affect to deprecate, 
seemingly for the purpose of exaggerating the evil, in order to 
reconcile the people to the extreme remedy they propose. A 
proper reduction of the revenues does not necessitate, and should not 
suggest, the abandonment or impairment of the protective system. 
The methods suggested by our convention will not need to be 
exhausted in order to effect the necessary reduction. We are not 
likely to be called upon, I think, to make a present choice between 
the surrender of the protective s\stem and the entire repeal of the 
mternal taxes. Such a contingency, in view of the present relation 
of expenditures to revenues, is remote. The in.spection and regu- 
lation of the manufacture and .sale of oleomargarine is important, 
and the revenue derived from it is not so great that the repeal of the 



/ 



4 Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaniiit Harrison. 

law need enter into an}- plan of rexenue reduction. The surplus 
now in the Treasury- should l^e used in the purchase of bonds. The 
law authorizes this use of it, and if it is not needed for current or 
deficiency appropriations, the people, and not the banks in which it 
has been deposited, should have the advantage of its use by stoppiui^ 
interest upon the public debt. At least those who needlessly hoard 
it should not be allowed to use the fear of a monetary stringency, 
thus produced, to coerce public sentiment upon other questions. 

Closely connected with the subject of the tariff is that of the 
importation of foreign laborers under contracts of service to be 
performed here. The law now in force prohibiting such contracts 
\ received my cordial support in the Senate, and such amendments 

as may be found necessary effectively to deliver our working men 
and women from this most inequitable form of competition will 
have my sincere advocacy. Legislation prohibiting the importation 
of laborers under contract to serve here will, however, afford very 
inadequate relief to our working people if the system of protective 
duties is broken down. If the products of American shops must 
compete in the American market, without favoring duties, with the 
products of cheap foreign labor the effect will be different, if at all, 
only in degree, whether the cheap laborer is across the street or over 
the sea. Such competition will soon reduce wages here to the level 
of those abroad, and when that condition is reached we will not 
need any laws forbidding the importation of laborer unders contract — 
they will have no inducement to come, and the employer no induce- 
ment to send for them. 

In the earlier years of our histor\' public agencies to promote 
immigration were common. The pioneer wanted a neighbor with 
more friendly instincts than the Indian. Labor was scarce and 
fully employed. But the day of the immigration bureau has gone 
by. While our doors will continue open to proper immigration, 
we do not need to issue .special invitations to the inhabitants of other 
countries to come to our shores or«to share our citizenship. Indeed, 
the necessity of some inspection and limitation is obvious. We 
should resolutely refuse to permit foreign governments to send their 
paupers and criminals to our ports. We are also clearly under a 
duty to defend our civilization by excluding alien races whose ulti- 
mate assimilation with our people is neither possible nor desirable. 
The family has been the nucleus of our best immigration, and the 
home the most potent assimilating force in our civilization. 

The objections to Chinese immigration are distinctive and con- 
clusive, nd are now so generally accepted as such that the ques- 
tion lias passed entirely beyond the stage of argument. The laws 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 5 

relating to this subject would, if I should be charged with their 
euforcemeut, be faithfully executed. Such amendments or further 
legislation as ma\' be necessary and projjer to prevent evasions of 
the laws and to stop further Chinese immigration would also meet 
my approval. The expression of the convention upon this subject 
is in entire harmony with my views. 

Our civil compact is a government by majorities, and the law 
loses its sanction and the magistrate our respect when this compact 
is broken. The evil results of election frauds do not expend them- 
selves upon the voters who are robbed of their rightful influence in 
public affairs. The individual or community or party that prac- 
tices or connives at election frauds has suffered irreparable injury, 
and will sooner or later realize that to exchange the American 
system of majority rule for minority control is not only unlawful 
and unpatriotic, but very unsafe for those who promote it. The 
disfranchisement of a single legal elector l)y fraud or intimidation is 
a crime too grave to be regarded lightly. The right of every quali- 
fied elector to cast one free ballot and to ha\'e it honestly counted 
must not be questioned. Every constitutional power should be 
used to make this right secure and to punish frauds upon the ballot. 
Our colored people do not ask special legislation in their interest, 
but only to be made secure in the common rights of American 
citizenship. They will, however, naturally mistrust the sincerity 
of tho.se party leaders who appeal to their race for support only in 
those localities where the suffrage is free and election results doubt- 
ful, and compa.ss their disfranchisement where their votes would be 
controlling and their choice can not be coerced. 

The nation, not less tlian the States, is dependent for prosperity 
and .security upon the intelligence and morality of the people. 
This common interest ver>' early suggested national aid in the estab- 
lishment and endowment of .schools and colleges in the new States. 
There is, I believe, a present exigency that calls for still more 
liberal and direct appropriations in aid of common-school education 
in the States. 

The territorial form of government is a temporary expedient, not 
a permanent civil condition. It is adapted to the exigency 'that 
suggested it, but becomes inadequate, and even oppressive,' when 
applied to fixed and populous communities. Several Territories 
are well able to bear the burdens and discharge the duties of free 
commonwealths in the American Union. To exclude them is to 
deny the just rights of their people, and may well excite their indig- 
nant protest. No question of the political preference of the peopTe 
of a Territory should close against them the hospitable door which 



6 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

has opened to two-thirds of the existing States. But admissions 
should be resohitely refused to any Territorj' a majority of whose 
people cherish institutions that are repugnant to our civilization or 
inconsistent with a republican form of government. 

The declaration of the convention again.st "all combinations of 
capital, organized in trusts or otherwise, to control arbitrarily the 
condition of trade among our citizens," is in harmony with the 
views entertained and publicly expressed by me long before the 
assembling of the convention. Ordinarily, capital shares the losses 
of idleness with labor; but under the operation of the trust, in some 
of its forms, the wage- worker alone suffers loss, while idle capital 
receives its dividends from a trust fund. Producers who refuse to 
join the combination are destroyed, and competition as an element 
of prices is eliminated. It can not be doubted that the legislative 
authority should and will find a method of dealing fairly and 
effectively with those and other abuses connected with this subject. 

It can hardly be necessary for me to say that I am heartily in 
sympathy with the declaration of the convention upon the subject 
of pensions to our soldiers and sailors. What they gave and what 
they suffered I had some opportunity to observe, and, in a small 
measure, to experience. They gave ungrudgingly; it was not a 
trade, but an offering. The measure was heaped up, running over 
What they achieved only a distant generation can adequately tell. 
Without attempting to discuss particular propositions, I may add 
that measures in behalf of the surviving veterans of the war and of 
the families of their dead comrades should be conceived and exe- 
cuted in a .spirit of justice and of the most grateful liberality, and 
that, in the competition for civil appointments, honorable military 
.service should have appropriate recognition. 

The law regulating appointments to the cla.ssified civil service 
received my support in the Senate in the belief that it opened the 
way to a much-needed reform. I still think so, and, therefore, 
cordially approve the clear and forcible expression of the conven- 
tion upon this subject. The law should have the aid of a friendly 
interpretation and be faithfully and vigorously enforced. All 
appointments under it should be absolutely free from partisan con- 
siderations and influence. Some extensions of the classified list 
are practicable and desirable, and further legislation extending the 
reform to other branches of the service to which it is applicable 
would receive my approval. In appointment to every grade and 
department, fitness, and not party service, should be the essential 
and discriminating test, and fidelity and efficiency the only sure 
tenure of office. Only the interests of the public service should 



Pi(hh'c Papers and Addresses of Benjaiiiiit Harrison. 7 

suggest removals from office. I know the practical difficulties 
attending the attempt to apply the spirit of the civil-service rules 
to all appointments and removals. It will, however, be my sincere 
purpo.se, if elected, to advance the reform. 

I notice with pleasure that the convention did not omit to express 
its .solicitude for the promotion of virtue and temperance among our 
people. The Republican part>- has always been friendly to ever\-- 
thing that tended to make the home life of our people free, pure, 
and prosperous, and will in the future be true to its history in this 
respect. 

Our relations with foreign powers should be characterized by 
friendliness and respect. The right of our people and of our ships 
to hospitable treatment should be insisted upon with dignity and 
firmness. Our nation is too great, both in material strength and 
in moral power, to indulge in bluster or to be suspected of timor- 
ousness. Vacillation and inconsistency are as incompatible with 
successful diplomacy as they are with the national dignity. We 
should especially cultivate and extend our diplomatic and commer- 
cial relations with the Central and South American states. Our 
fisheries should be fostered and protected. The hardships and 
risks that are the necessary incidents of the business should not be 
increased by an inhospitable exclusion from the near-hing ports. 
The resources of a firm, dignified, and consistent diplomacy are 
undoubtedly equal to the prompt and peaceful .solution of the diffi- 
culties that now exist. Our neighbors will .surelv not expect in 
our ports a commercial hospitality they deny to us in theirs. 

I can not extend this letter b>- a .special reference to other subjects 
upon which the con\-ention gave an expression. 

In respect to them, as well as to those I have noticed, I am in 
entire agreement with the declarations of the convention. The 
resolutions relating to the coinage, to the rebuilding of the Navy, 
to coast defenses, and to public lands, express conclusions to all of 
which I gave my support in the Senate. 

Inviting a calm and thoughtful consideration of these public 
questions, we submit them to the people. Their intelligent patri- 
otism and the good Providence that made and has kept us a nation 
will lead them to wise and safe conclusions. 

Very respectfully, your obedient .ser\-ant, 

Benj. H.^rrlson. 
Indianapoi.ls, Ind., 

September 11^ 18S8. 



8 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

II. 

ACCEPTING SECOND NOMINATION, 1892. 

Hon. William McKinley, Jr., and others, 

Committee^ etc.: 

Gentlemen : I now avail myself of the first period of relief from 
public duties to respond to the notification which you brought to 
me on June 20 of my nomination for the office of President of the 
United States by the Republican national convention recently held 
at Minneapolis. I accept the nomination, and am grateful for the 
approval expressed by the convention of the acts of the adminis- 
tration. 

I have endeavored without wavering or weariness, so far as the 
direction of public affairs was committed to me, to carry out the 
pledges made to the people in 1888. If the policies of the admin- 
istration have not been distinctively and progressively American 
and Republican policies, the fault has not been in the purpo.se, but 
in the execution. I shall speak frankly of the legislation of Congress 
and of the work of the executive departments, for the credit of any 
successes that have been attained is in such measure due to others — 
Senators and Representatives and to the efficient heads of the several 
executive departments — that I may do .so without impropriety. 

A vote of want of confidence is asked by our adversaries, and this 
challenge to a review of what has been done we promptly and gladly 
accept. 

The great work of the Fifty-first Congress has been subjected to 
the revision of a Democratic House of Representatives and the acts 
of the executive department to its scrutiny and investigation. A 
Democratic national administration was succeeded by a Republican 
administration, and the freshness of the events gives unusual facil- 
ities for fair comparison and judgment. There has seldom been a 
time, I think, when a change from the declared policies of the 
Republican party to the declared policies of the Democratic party 
involved such serious results to the business interests of the country. 
A brief review of what has been done and of what the Democratic 
party proposes to undo will justify this opinion. 

The Republican party, during the civil war, devised a national 
currency, consisting of United States notes, issued and redeemable 
by the Government, and of national-bank notes, based iipon the 
security of United States bonds. A tax was levied upon the issues 



Public Papers ami Addresses of Beujaniin Harrison. 9 

of State banks, and the intended resnlt, that all such issues should 
be withdrawn, was realized. There are men among us now who 
never saw a State-bank note. 

The notes furni.shed directly or indirectly by the United States 
have been the only and the safe and acceptable paper currency of 
the people. Bank failures have brought no fright, delay, or loss to 
the bill-holders. The note of an insolvent 1)ank is as good and as 
current as a Treasury note, for the credit of the United States is 
behind it. Our money is all national money — I might almost say 
international, for these bills are not only equally and indiscrimi- 
nately accepted at par in all the States, but in some foreign countries. 

The Democratic party, if intrusted with the control of the Gov- 
ernment, is now pledged to repeal the tax on State-bank issues, 
with a view to putting into circulation again, under such diver.se 
legislation as the States may adopt, a flood of local bank issues. 
Only those who, in the years before the war, experienced the incon- 
venience and losses attendant upon the u.se of such money, can 
appreciate what a return to that system involves. 

The denomination of a bill was then often no indication of its 
vahie. The bank detector of yesterday was not a safe guide to-day 
as to credit or values. Merchants deposited several times during 
the day, lest the hour of bank closing should show a depreciation of 
the nionev taken in the morning. The traveler could not use in a 
journey to the East the issues of the most solvent banks of the West; 
and in con.seqnence a mone\--changer"s office was the familiar 
neiehbor of the ticket office and the lunch counter. The farmer 
and the laborer found the money received for their products or their 
labor depreciated when they came to make their purchases, and the 
whole business of the country was hindered and burdened. 

Changes may become necessary, but a national system of cnr- 
renc\-, .safe and acceptable throughout the whole country, is the 
good fruit of bitter experiences, and I am sure our peo])le will not 
consent to the reactionary propo.sal made by the Democratic party. 

Few subjects have elicited more discu.ssion or excited more gen- 
eral interest than that of a recovery by the United vStates of its 
appropriate share of the ocean carrying trade. This subject touches 
not only our pockets but our national pride. Practically all the 
freights for transporting to PZurope the enormous annual supplies of 
provisions furnished liy this country and for the large return of 
manufactured products have for man\- >ears been paid to foreign 
owners. 

Thousands of immigrants annually seeking homes under our flag 
have been denied the sight of it until they entered Sandy Hook, 



TO Public Papers and Addresses of Bcujami)! /farrisnii. 

wliile increasing thousands of American citizens, bent on European 
travel, have each year stepped into a foreign jurisdiction at the New 
York docks. Tlie merchandise balance of trade which the Treasury 
books show is largely reduced by the annual tribute which we pay 
for freight and passage monevs. 

The great ships — the fastest upon the sea — whicli are now in 
peace profiting by our trade, are, in a secondary sense, warships of 
their respective governments, and in time of war would, under 
existing contracts with those governments, speedily take on the guns 
for which their decks are already prepared and enter with terrible 
efficiency upon the work of destroying our commerce. The undis- 
puted fact is that the great steamship lines of Europe were built up 
and are now in part sustained by direct or indirect government aid, 
the latter taking the form of liberal pay for carrying the mails or of 
an annual bonus given in consideration of agreements to construct 
the ships so as to adapt them for carrying an armament and to turn 
them over to the government on demand upon specific terms. 

It was plain to every intelligent American that if the United 
States would have such lines a similar policy must be entered upon. 
The Fifty-first Congress enacted such a law, and under its beneficent 
influence sixteen American steamships of an aggregate tonnage of 
57,400 tons and costing $7,400,000 have been built or contracted to 
be built in American shipyards. 

In addition to this it is now practically certain that we shall soon 
have under the American flag one of the finest steamshij) lines sail- 
ing out of New York for any European port. This contract will 
result in the construction in American yards of four new passenger 
steamships of 10,000 tons each, costing about $8,000,000, and will 
add to our naval reserve six steamships, the fastest upon the sea. 

A special interest has been taken by me in the establishment of 
lines from our South Atlantic and Gulf ports; and, though my 
expectations have not yet been realized, attention has been called 
to the advantages possessed by these ports, and when their people 
are more fully alive to their interests, I do not doubt that thev will 
be able to secure the capital needed to enable them to profit bv their 
great natural advantages. 

The Democratic party has foimd no place in its platform for anv 
reference to this subject, and has shown its hostility to the general 
policy by refusing to expend an appropriation made during the last 
administration for ocean mail contracts with American lines. 

The patriotic people, the workmen in our shops, the capitalists 
seeking new enterprises, must decide whether the great ships owned 
by Americans which have .sought American registry shall again 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjawin Ifarrisou. 1 1 

humbly ask a place in the English naval reserve; the great ships 
now on the designers' tables go to foreign shops for construction, 
and the United vStates lose the now brightening opportunity of 
recovering a place commensurate with its wealth, the skill of its 
constructors and the courage of its sailors, in the carrying trade of 
all the seas. 

Another related measure, as furnishing an increased ocean traffic 
for our ships, and of great and permanent benefit to the farmers and 
manufacturers as well, is the reciprocit>- policy declared by section 
3 of the tariff act of 1890, and now in practical operation with five 
of the nations of Central and South America, San Domingo, tlie 
Spanish and British West India Islands, and with Germany and 
Austria, under special trade arrangements with eacli. 

The removal of the dut\- upon sugar and the continuance of 
coffee and tea upon the free list, while giving great relief to our 
people by cheapening articles used increasingly in ever>- household, 
was also of such enormous advantage to the countries exporting 
these articles as to suggest that in consideration thereof reciprocal 
favors should be shown in their tariffs to articles ex])orted by us to 
their markets. 

Great credit is due to Mr. Blaine for the vigor with which he 
pressed this view upon the country. We have only begun to realize 
the benefit of these trade arrangements. The work of creating new 
agencies and of adapting our goods to new markets has necessarily 
taken time, but the results already attained are such, I am sure, as 
to establish in popular favor the policy of reciprocal trade, ba.sed 
upon the free importation of such articles as do not injurioush- 
compete with the products of our own farms, mines, or factories, in'' 
exchange for the free or favored introduction of our products into 
other countries. 

The obvious efficacy of this policy in increasing the foreign trade 
of the United States at once attracted the alarmed attention of 
European trade journals and boards of trade. The British board of 
trade has presented to that government a memorial asking for the 
appointment of a commission to con.sider the best means of connter- 
actino- what is called "the commercial crusade of the United 
States." 

At a meeting held in March last of the A,s.sociated Chambers of 
Commerce of Cireat Britain, the president reported that the exports 
from Crreat Britain to the Latin-American countries during the last 
year had decreased $23,750,000, and that this was not due to tem- 
porary causes, but directly to the reciprocity ])()licy of the United 
States. 



12 Public Papers and Addresses of Bcn/aniiH Harrison. 

Germany and France have also shown their startled appreciation 
of the fact that a new and vigorons contestant has appeared in the 
battle of the markets and has already secnred important ad\-antages. 

The most convincing evidence of the tremendons commercial 
strength of our position is found in the fact that Great Britain and 
Spain have fonnd it necessary to make reciprocal trade agreements 
with ns for their West India colonies, and that Germany and Austria 
have given us important concessions in exchange for the continued 
free importation of their beet sugar. 

A few details only as to the increase of our trade can be given 
here. Taking all the countries with which such arrangements have 
been made, our trade to June 30, 1892, had increased 23.78 per cent ; 
with Brazil the increase was nearly 11 per cent; with Cuba, during 
the first ten months, our exports increased $5,702,193, or 54.86 per 
cent, and with Porto Rico $590,959, or 34 per cent. The liberal 
participation of our farmers in the benefits of this policy is shown 
by the following report from our consul-general at Havana, under 
date of July 26 last : 

During the first half year of iSgi Havana received 140,056 bags of flour from Spain 
and other ports of the island about an equal amount, or, approximately. 280,112 bags. 

During the same period Havana received 13,976 bags of American flour and other 
ports approximately an equal amount, making about 28,000 bags. 

But for the first half of this year Spain has sent less than 1,000 bags to the whole 
island, and the United States has sent to Havana alone 168,487 bags and about an equal 
amount to other ports of the island, making, approximately, 337,000 for the first half 
of 1892. 

Partly by reason of the reciprocal trade agreement, but more 
largely by reason of the removal of the sanitary restrictions upon 
American pork, our export of pork products to Germany increased 
during the ten months ending June 30 last $2,025,074, or about 32 
per cent. 

The British Trade Journal, of London, in a recent issue, speaking 
of the increase of American coal exports and of the falling off of 
the English coal exports to Cuba, says : 

It is another case of American competition. The United States now supply Cuba 
with about 150,000 tons of coal annually, and there is every prospect of this trade 
increasing as the forests of the island become exhausted and the use of steam 
machinery on the sugar estates is developed. .Alabama coal, especially, is securing 
a reputation in the Spanish West Indies, and the river and rail improvements of the 
Southern States will undoubtedly create an important Gulf trade. 

The new reciprocity policy by which the United States are enabled 10 import Cuban 
sugar will, of course, assist the .American coal exporters even more eftectively than the 
new lines of railway. 

The Democratic platform promises a repeal of the tariff law con- 
taining this pro\'ision, and especially denounces as a sham recipro- 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 13 

ciU' tliat section of tlie law under whicli these trade arrangements 
lia\e been made. If no other issue were involved in the campaign 
this alone would give it momentous importance. 

Are the farmers of the great grain growing States willing to sur- 
render these new, large, and increasing markets for their surplus? 
Are we to have nothing in exchange for the free importation of 
sugar and coffee and at the same time to destroy the sugar planters 
of the South and the beet-sugar industry of the Northwest and of 
the Pacific coast, or are we to have the taxed sugar and coffee, which 
a "tariff for revenue only" neces.sarily involves, with the added 
loss of the new markets which have been opened? 

As I have shown, our own commercial rivals in Europe do not 
regard this reciprocity policy as a "sham," but as a serious threat 
to a trade supremacy they have long enjoyed. They would 
rejoice — and if prudence did not restrain would illuminate their 
depressed manufacturing cities — over the news that the United 
States had abandoned its system of protection and reciprocity. 
They see very clearly that restriction of American production and 
trade and a corresponding increase of European production and trade 
would follow, and I will not believe that what is so plain to them 
can be hidden from our own people. 

The declaration of the platform in fa\'or of "the American 
doctrine of protection " meets my most hearty approval. The con- 
vention did not adopt a schedule, but a principle that is to control 
all tariff schedules. There may be differences of opinion among 
protectionists as to the rate upon particular articles necessary ti> 
effect an equalization between wages abroad and at home. In some 
not remote national campaigns the issue has been, or, more correctly, 
has been made to appear to be between a high and a low protective 
tariff, both parties expressing some solicitous regard for the wages 
of onr working people and for the prosperity of our domestic indus- 
tries. 

Rut, under a more courageous leadership, the Democratic party has 
now practically declared that if given power it will enact a tariff law 
without any regard toitseffect upon wagesorupon thecapitalinvested 
in our great industries. The majorit\- report of the committee 
on platform to the Democratic national convention at Chicago 
contained this clause : 

That when custom-house taxation is levied ii|Hm articles nf any Ivind produced in 
lliis country the difference between the cost of labor liere and labor al>road, wlien such 
a difference exists, fully measures any possible benefits to labor, and the enormous 
•idditional impositions of the existing tariff fall with crushing force upon our farmers 
and working men. 



14 Public Papers and .Iddresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

Here we have a distinct admission of the Repnblican contention 
that American workmen are advantaged by a tariff rate equal to the 
difference between home and foreign wages, and a declaration only 
against the alleged "additional impositions" of the existing tariff 
law. 

Again, this majority report further declared : 

But in making a reduction in taxes, it is not proposed to injure any domestic 
industries, but rather to promote their healthy growth. * * * Moreover, many 
industries have come to rely upon legislation for successful continuance, so that any 
change of law must be at every step regardful of the labor and the capital thus involved- 
Here we have an admission that many of our industries depend 
upon protective duties "for their successful continuance," and a 
declaration that tariff changes should be regardful of the workmen 
in such industries and of the invested capital. 

The overwhelming rejection of these propositions, which had 
before received the sanction of Democratic national conventions, 
was not more indicative of the new and more courageous leadership 
to which the party has now committed itself than the substitute 
which was adopted. This substitute declares that protective 
duties are unconstitutional — high protection, low protection — all 
unconstitutional. 

A Democratic Congress holding this view can not enact, nor a 
Democratic President approve, any tariff schedule the purpose or 
effect of which is to limit importations or to give any advantage to 
an American workman or producer. A bounty might, I judge, be 
given to the importer under this view of the Constitution, in order 
to increase importations, and so the revenue for "revenue only " is 
the limitation. Reciprocity, of course, falls under this denuncia- 
tion, for its object and effect are not revenue, but the promotion of 
commercial e.xchanges, the profits of which go wliolh- to our pro- 
ducers. 

This destructive, un-American doctrine was not held or taught 
by the historic Democratic statesmen whose fame as American 
patriots has reached this generation — certainly not by Jefferson or 
Jackson. This mad crusade against American shops, the bitter 
epithets applied to American manufacturers, the persistent disbelief 
of everv' report of the opening of a tin-plate mill or of an increase 
of our foreign trade by reciprocity are as surprising as they are 
discreditable. 

There is not a thoughtful business man in the country- who does 
not know that the enactment into law of the declaration of the 
Chicago convention upon the subject of the tariff would at once 
plunge the country into a business convulsion such as it has never 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin J/ai rison. 15 

seen; and there is not a thoughtful workiuginan who does not know 
tliat it would at once enoruiously reduce the amount of work to be 
done in this countr\- b\' the increase of importations that would 
follow and" necessitate a reduction of his wages to the European 
standard. 

If any one suggests that this radical policy will not be executed 
if the Democratic party attains power, what shall be thought of a 
part)- that is capable of thus trifling with great interests? The 
threat of such legislation would be only less hurtful than the fact. 

A distinguished Democrat rightly described this movement as a 
challenge to the protected industries to a fight of extermination, 
and another such rightly expressed the logic of the situation when 
he interpreted the Chicago platform to be an invitation to all 
Democrats holding even the most moderate protection views to go 
into the Republican part)-. 

And now a few words in regard to the existing tariff law. We 
are fortunately able to judge of its influence upon production and 
prices by the market reports. The day of the prophet of calamity 
has been succeeded h\ that of the trade reporter. 

An examination into the effect of the law upon the prices of 
protected products and of the cost of such articles as enter into the 
living of people of small means has been made by a Senate committee 
composed of leading Senators of both parties, with the aid of the 
best statisticians, and the report, signed by all the members of the 
committee, has l^een given to the public. No such wide and 
careful inquir)- has ever before been made. These facts appear from 
the report: 

First. The cost of articles entering into the use of those earning 
less than $1,000 per annum has decreased up to May, 1892, 3.4 per 
cent, while in farm products there has been an increase in prices, 
owing in part to an increased foreign demand and the opening of 
new markets. 

In England, during the same period, the cost of living increased 
1.9 per cent. Tested by their power to purchase articles of necessity 
the earnings of our working people have never been as great as 
they are now. 

Second. There has been an average; advance in the rate of wages 
of .75 of I per cent. 

Third. There has been an advance in the price of all farm prod- 
ucts of 18.67 percent, and of all cereals 33.59 per cent. 

The ninth annual report of the chief of the bureau of labor 
statistics of the State of New York, a Democratic officer, very 
recently i.ssued, strongly corroborates as to that State the facts found 



1 6 Public Papers and Addresses of Bciijai)ii)i Harrison. 

b\ tlie Senate coinniittee. His extended inquiry shows that in the 
year immediately followini^ the passage of the tariff act of 1890 
the aggregate sum paid in wages in that State was $6,377,925 in 
excess, and the aggregate production $31,315,130 in excess of the 
preceding year. 

In view of this sliowing of an increase in wages, of a reduction in 
the cost of articles of common necessity and of a marked advance in 
the prices of agricultural products, it is plain that this tariff law has 
not imposed burdens, but has conferred benefits upon the farmer and 
the workingman. 

Some special effects of the act should be noticed. It was a cour- 
ageous attempt to rid our people of a long-maintained foreign 
monopoly in the production of tin plate, pearl buttons, silk pkish, 
linens, lace, etc. Once or twice in our history the production of 
tin plate had been attempted, and the prices obtained by the 
Welsh makers would have enabled our makers to produce it at a 
profit. But the Welsh makers at once cut prices to a point that 
drove the American beginners out of the business, and, when this 
was accomplished, again made their own prices. 

A correspondent of the Industrial World, the official organ of the 
Welsh tin-plate workers, published at Swansea, in the issue of June 
10, 1892, advises a new trial of these methods. He says : 

Do not be deceived. The victory of the Republicans at the polls means the reten- 
tion of the McKinlcy bill and means the rapidly accruing loss of the 80 per cent of the 
export American trade. Had there been no Democratic victory in iSgo the spread of 
the tin-plate manufacture in the United States would have been both rapid and bona 
fide. It is not yet too late to do something to reduce the price of plates. Put them 
down to II shillings per box of 100, 14 by 20, full weight basis. Let the workmen take 
half pay for a few months and turn out more. Then let the masters forego profits for 
the same time. 

And again that paper says : 

It is clearly the interest of both (employer and workmen) to produce tin plates, tariff 
or no tariff, at a price that will drive all competitors from the field. 

But, in spite of the doubts raised by the elections of 1890 and of 
the machinations of foreign producers to maintain their monopoly, 
the tin-plate industry has been established in the United States, and 
the alliance between the Welsh producers and the Democratic part}- 
for its destruction will not succeed. 

The official returns to the Treasury Department of the production 
of tin and terne plates in the United States during the last fiscal 
year show a total production of 13,340,830 pounds, and a compari- 
son of the first quarter, 826,922 pounds, with the last, 8,000,000 
pounds, shows the rapid development of the industry. Over 5,000,000 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijainiii Harrison. 17 

pounds during tlie last quarter were made from American black 
plates, the remainder from foreign plates. 

Mr. Aver, the Treasury agent in charge, estimates, as the result 
of careful inquiry, that the production of the current year will be 
100,000,000 pounds, and that l)y the end of the year our production 
will be at the rate of 200,000,000 pounds per annum. 

Another industry that has been practically created by the McKiuley 
bill is the making of pearl buttons. Few articles coming to us 
from abroad were so distinctly the product of starvation wages. 

But without unduly extending this letter I can not follow in detail 
the influences of the tariff law of 1890. It has transplanted .several 
important industries and established them here, and has revived or 
enlarged all others. The act gives to the miners protection against 
foreign silver-bearing lead ores, the free introduction of which 
threatened the great mining industries of the Rocky Mountain 
States ; and to the wool-growers protection for their fleeces and 
flocks, which has saved them from a further and disastrous decline. 
The House of Representatives, at its last session, passed bills placing 
these ores and wool upon the free list. The people of the West will 
know how destructive to their prosperity these measures would be. 

This tariff law has given employment to many thousands of 
American men and women and will each year give employment 
to increasing thousands. Its repeal would throw thousands out of 
employment and give work to others only at reduced wages. The 
appeals of the free trader to the workingman are largely addressed 
to his prejudices or to his passions and not infrequently are pro- 
nouncedly communistic. The new Democratic leadership rages at 
the employer and seeks to communicate his rage to the employe. 
I oreatly regret that all employers of labor are not just and consid- 
erate, and that capital sometimes takes too large a share of the profits. 
But I do not see that these evils will be ameliorated by a tariff policy, 
the first necessary effect of which is a severe wage cut, and the second 
a large diminution of the aggregate amount of work to be done 
in this country. 

If the injustice of his employer tempts the workman to strike 
back he should be very sure that his blow does not fall upon his 
own head or upon his wife and children. The workmen in our great 
industries are as a bod\- remarkabh- intelligent and are lovers of 
home and countr>'. They may be roused by injustice, or what 
seems to them to be such, or be led for the moment by others into 
acts of passion ; but they will settle the tariff contest in the calm 
light of their November firesides and with sole reference to the 
15151 2 



i8 Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijainin Plarrison. 

prosperity of tlie country of which they are citizens and of the 
homes they have founded for their wives and children. 

No intelligent advocate of a protective tariff claims that it is able 
of itself to maintain a uniform rate of wages without regard to 
fluctuations in the supply of, and demand for the products of labor. 
But it is confidently claimed that protective duties strongly tend to 
hold up wages, and are the only barrier against a reduction to the 
European scale. 

The Southern States have had a liberal participation in the bene- 
fits of the tariff law, and though their representatives have generally 
opposed the protection policy, I rejoice that their sugar, rice, coal, 
ores, iron, fruits, cotton cloths, and other products have not been 
left to the fate which the votes of their representatives would have 
brought upon them. 

In the construction of the Nicaragua Canal, in the new trade 
with South and Central America, in the establishment of American 
steamship lines, the.se States have also special interests, and all 
these interests will not always consent to be without representation 
at Washington. 

Shrewdly, but not quite fairh', our adversaries speak only of the 
increased duty imposed upon tin, pearl buttons and other articles 
by the McKinley bill, and omit altogether any reference to the great 
and beneficial enlargement of the free list. During the last fiscal 
year $458,000,772 worth of merchandise, or 55.35 per cent of our 
total importations, came in free (the largest per centage in our his- 
tory); while in 1889 the per cent of free importations was onh- 34.42 
per cent. 

The placing of sugar upon the free list has saved to the consumer 
in duties in fifteen months, after paying the bounties provided for, 
$87,000,000. This relief has been substantially felt in every house- 
hold upon every Saturday's purchase of the workingmau. 

One of the favorite arguments against a protective tariff is that it 
shuts us out from a participation in what is called with swelling 
emphasis "the markets of the world." If this view is not a false 
one, how does it happen that our commercial competitors are not 
able to bear with more serenity our supposed surrender to them of 
the "markets of the world?" And how does it happen that the 
partial loss of our market closes foreign tin-plate mills and plush 
factories that still have all other markets? 

Our natural advantages, our protective tariff, and the reciprocity 
policy make it possible for us to have a large participation in the 
"markets of the world," without opening our own to a competition 
that would destroy the comfort and independence of our people. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 19 

The resolution of the convention in favor of binietalisni declares, 
I think, the true and necessary conditions of a movement that has, 
upon these lines, my cordial adherence and support. I am thor- 
ouglily convinced that the free coinage of silver at such a ratio to 
gold as will maintain the equality in their commercial uses of the 
two coined dollars would conduce to the prosperity of all the great 
producing and commercial nations of the world. 

The one essential condition is that these dollars shall have and 
retain an equal acceptability and value in all commercial transac- 
tions. They are not only a medium of exchange, but a measure of 
values, and when two unequal measures are called in law b>- the 
same name commerce is unsettled and confused and the unwary and 
ignorant are cheated. Dollars of unequal commercial value will 
not circulate together. The better dollar is withdrawn and becomes 
merchandise. 

The true interest of all our people, and especially of the farmers 
and working people, who can not closely observe the money market, 
is that every dollar, paper or coin, issued or authorized by the Gov- 
ernment, shall at all times and in all its uses be the e.xact equivalent, 
not only in debt-paying, but in purchasing power of any other 
dollar. 

I am quite sure that if we should now act upon this subject inde- 
pendently of other nations we would greatly promote their interests 
and injure our own. The monetary conditions in Europe within 
the last two years have, I think, tended very much to develop a 
sentiment in favor of a larger tise of silver, and I was much pleased 
and encouraged by the cordiality, promptne.ss, and unanimity with 
which the invitation of this Government for an international con- 
ference upon this subject was accepted by all the powers. We may 
not only hope for, but expect highly beneficial results from this con- 
ference, which will now soon assemlile. When the result of the 
conference is known we shall then be able intelligently to readjust 
our financial legislation to any new condition.s. 
In my last annual message to Congress I said : 

I must yet entertain the hope that it is possible to secure a calm, patriotic consider- 
ation of such Constitutional or statutory changes as m.iy be necessary to secure the 
choice of the officers of the Government to the people by fair apportionments and free 
elections. I believe it would be possible to constitute a commission, nonpartisan in 
its membership and composed of patriotic, wise, and impartial men, to whom a consid- 
eration of the questions of the evils connected with our elections systems and methods 
might be committed with a good prospect of securing unanimity in some plan for 
removing or mitigating those evils. 

The Constitution would permit the selection of the commission to be vested in the 
Supreme Court if that method would give the best guaranty of impartiality. This com- 
mission should be charged with the duty of inquiring into the whole subject of the law 



20 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. ■ 

of elections as related to the choice of officers of the National Government, with a 
view to securing to every elector a free and unmolested exercise of the suffrage and as 
near an approach to an equality of value in each ballot cast as is attainable. * * * 
The demand that the limitations of suffrage shall be found in the law, and only there, 
is a just demand, and no just man should resent or resist it. 

It seemed to me that an appeal to our people to consider the 
question of readjusting our legislation upon absolutely fair non- 
partisan lines might find some effective response. Many times I 
have had occasion to say that laws and election methods designed 
to give unfair advantages to the party making them would some 
time be used to perpetuate in power a faction of a party against the 
will of a majority of the people. 

Of this we seem to have an illustration in the recent State election 
in Alabama. There was no Republican ticket in the field. The 
contest was between white Democrats. The Kolb party say they 
were refused the representation guaranteed by law upon the election 
boards, and that when the courts by mandamus attempted to right 
this wrong, an appeal that could not be heard until after the election 
made the writs ineffectual. Ballot boxes were thrown out for alleged 
irregularities, or destroyed, and it is asserted on behalf of one-half, 
at least, of the white voters of Alabama that the officers to whom 
certificates have been given were not honestly elected. 

There is no .security for the personal or political rights of any 
man in a community where any other man is deprived of his per- 
sonal or political rights. The power of the .States over the question 
of the qualification of electors is ample to protect them again.st the 
dangers of an ignorant or depraved suffrage, and the demand that 
every man found to be qualified under the law shall be made secure 
in the right to cast a free ballot, and to have that ballot honestly 
counted, can not be abated. 

Our old Republican battle-cry, "A free ballot and a fair count," 
comes back to us not only from Alabama but from other States, and 
from men who, differing with us widely in opinions, have come to 
see that parties and political debate are but a mockery if, when the 
debate is ended, the judgment of honest majorities is to be reversed 
by ballot-box frauds and tally-sheet manipulations in the interest of 
the party or party faction in power. 

These new political movements in the States and the recent 
decisions of some of the State courts against unfair apportionment 
laws, encourage the hope that the arbitrary and partisan election 
laws and practices which have prevailed may be corrected by the 
States, the laws made equal and nonpartisan, and the elections free 
and honest. The Republican party would rejoice at such a solution, 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijainiii Harrison. 2i 

as a healthy and patriotic local sentiment is the best assnrance of 
free and honest elections. 

I shall again urge upon Congress that provision be made for the 
ajipointment of a nonpartisan commission to consider the subject 
of apportionments and elections, in their relation to the choice of 
Federal officers. 

The civil-service system has been extended and law enforced with 
vigor and impartiality. There has been no partisan jnggling with 
the law in any ot the departments or bureaus, as had before hap- 
pened, but appointments to the classified service have been made 
impartially from the eligible lists. The system now in force in all 
the departments has for the first time placed promotions strictly 
upon the basis of merit, as ascertained by a daih- record, and the 
efficiency of the force thereby greatly increased. 

The approval so heartily given by the convention to all those 
agencies which contribute to the education of the children of the 
land, was worthih- bestowed and meets my hearty approval, as does 
also the declaration as to liberty- of thought and conscience, and the 
separation of church and state. 

The safety of the Republic is an intelligent citizenship, and the 
increased interest manifested in the vStates in education, the cheer- 
fulness with which the necessary taxes are paid by all classes, and 
the renewed interest manifested by the children in the national flag, 
are hopeful indications that the coming generation will direct public 
affairs with increased prudence and patriotism. 

Our interest in free public schools open to all children of suitable 
age is supreme, and our care for them will be jealous and constant. 
The public school system, however, was not intended to restrain 
the natural right of the parent, after contributing to the public 
school fund, to choose other educational agencies for his children. 

I favored aid b\- the General (Tovernment to the public schools, 
with a special view to the necessities of .some of the vSouthern States. 
But it is gratifA'ing to notice that many of these States are, with 
commendable liberality, developing their school systems and increas- 
ing their school revenues, to the great advantage of the children of 
both races. 

The considerate attention of the farmers of the wdujle country 
is invited to the work done through the State and Agricultural 
Departments in the interest of agriculture. Our pork products 
had for ten years been not only excluded by the great continental 
nations of Europe, but their value discredited b)- the reasons given 
for this exclusion. All previous efforts to secure the removal of 
these restrictions had failed, but the wise legislation of the Fifty- 



22 Public Papers and At/t/rcsscs of Ih-i/jniiiiii Harrison. 

first Congress, providing for the inspection and ofificial certification 
of onr meats, and giving to the President power to forbid the intro- 
duction into this country of selected products of such countries as 
should continue to refuse onr inspected meats, enabled us to open 
all the markets of Europe to our pork products. The result has 
been not only to sustain prices by providing new markets for our 
surplus, but to add fifty cents per one hundred pounds to the market 
vahxe of the inspected meats. 

Under the recijirocity agreements special favors have been secured 
for agricultural products, and onr exports of such products have 
been greatly increased, with a sure prospect of a further and rapid 
increase. The Agricultural Department has maintained in Europe 
an agent whose special duty it is to introduce there the various 
preparations of corn as articles of food, and his work has been very 
successful. 

The Department has also sent skilled veterinarians to Liverpool 
to examine, in connection with the IJritish veterinarians, the live 
cattle from the United States landed at that port, and the result, in 
connection with the sanitary methods adopted at home, has been 
that we hear no more about our cattle being infected with pleuro- 
pneumonia. A judicious system of quarantine lines has prevented 
the infection of Northern cattle with the Texas fever. 

The tariff bill of 1890 gives better protection to farm j^roducts 
subject to foreign competition than they ever had before, and the 
home markets for sucli products have been enlarged by the estab- 
lishment of new industries and the development of others. 

We may confidently submit to the intelligent and candid judg- 
ment of the American farmer whether in any corresponding period 
so much has been done to promote his interests, and whether, in 
a continuance and extension of these methods, there is not a better 
prospect offered to him than in the invitation of the Democratic 
party to give our home market to foreign manufacturers and to 
abandon the reciprocity policy, and better also than the radical and 
mitried methods of relief proposed by other parties which are solic- 
iting his support. 

I have often expressed my strong conviction of the value of the 
Nicaragua Ship Canal to our commerce and to our Navy. The 
project is not one of convenience, but of necessity. It is quite pos- 
sible, I believe, if the United States will support the enterprise, 
to secure the speedy completion of the canal without taxing the 
Treasury for au)- direct contribution, and at the .same time to secure 
to the United States that influence in its management which is 
imperative. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beii/a)inii Harrison. 23 

It has been the purpose of the administration to make its foreign 
policy not a matter of partisan politics, but of patriotism and 
national honor, and I have very great gratification in being able to 
state that the Democratic members of the Committees of Foreign 
Affairs responded in a true American spirit. I have not hesitated 
to consult freely with them about the most confidential and delicate 
affairs, and here frankly confess my obligation for needed coopera- 
tion. They did not regard a patient but firm insistence upon 
American rights and upon immunity from insult and injury for our 
citizens and sailors in foreign ports as a policy of "irritation and 
bluster." They did not believe, as some others seem to believe, 
that to be a Democrat one must take the foreign side of every inter- 
national cpiestion if a Republican administration is conducting the 
American side. I do not believe that a tame submission to insult 
and outrage b}' any nation at the hands of another can ever form 
the basis of a lasting friendshii^ ; the necessary element of mutual 
respect will be wanting. 

The Chilean incident, now so happily and honorably adjusted, 
will, I do not doubt, place our relations with that brave people upon 
a more friendh- basis than ever before. This already appears in the 
agreement since negotiated by Mr. Egan for the .settlement by a 
commission of the long unsettled claims between the two Govern- 
ments. The work of Mr. Egan has been highly advantageous to 
the ITuited States. The confidence which I refused to withdraw 
from him has been abundantly justified. 

In our relations with the great European powers the rights of 
the United States and of our citizens have been insisted u])on with 
firmness. The strength of our cause and not the strength, of our 
adversar}' has given tone to our correspondence. 

The Samoan question and the Bering Sea question, which came 
over from the preceding administration, have been the one settled 
and the other submitted to arbitration upon a fair basis. 

Never before, I think, in a like period have so many important 
treaties and commercial agreements been concluded and never 
before, I am sure, have the honor and influence, national and com- 
mercial, of the United States been held in higher estimation in both 
hemispheres. 

The Union soldiers and sailors are now veterans of time as well as 
of war. The parallels of age have approached close to the citadels 
of life and the end, for each, of a brave and honorable struggle is 
not remote. Increasing infirmity and years give the minor tones of 
sadness and pathos to the mighty appeal of service and suffering. 
The ear that does not listen with sympathy and the heart that does 



24 Public Papers and Addresses of Beii/'aniin Harrison. 

not respond with generosity are the ear and heart of an alien and 
not of an American. Now, soon again the surviving veterans are 
to parade upon the great avenue of the national capital and every 
tribute of honor and love should attend the march. A comrade in 
the column of the victors' parade in 1865, I am not less a comrade 
now. 

I have used every suitable occasion to urge upon the people of all 
sections the consideration that no good cause can be promoted upon 
the lines of lawlessness. Mobs do not discriminate, and the punish- 
ments inflicted by them have no repressive or salutary influence. 
On the contrary, they beget revenges and perpetuate feuds. It is 
especially the duty of the educated and influential to see that the 
weak and ignorant when accused of crime are fairly tried before 
lawful tribunals. The moral sentiment of the country should be 
aroused and brought to bear for the suppression of these offenses 
against the law and social order. 

The necessity for a careful discrimination among the emigrants 
seeking our shores becomes every da}- more apparent. We do not 
want and should not receive those who by reason of bad character or 
habits are not wanted at home. The industrious and self-respecting, 
the lovers of law and liberty, should be discriminated from the 
pauper, the criminal and the anarchist, who come only to burden 
and disturb our communities. Every effort has been made to 
enforce the laws and some convictions have been secured under the 
contract-labor law. 

The general condition of our country is one of great prosperity. 
The blessing of God has rested upon our fields and upon our people. 
The annual value of our foreign commerce has increased more 
than $400,000,000 over the average for the preceding ten years, and 
more than $210,000,000 over 1890, the last year unaffected by 
the new tariff". Our exports in 1892 exceeded those of 1890 by 
more than $172,000,000, and the annual average for ten j-ears by 
$265,000,000. Our exports of breadstuff's increased over those of 
1890 more than 1144,000,000; of provisions over $4,000,000, and 
of manufactures over $8,000,000. The merchandise balance of trade 
in our favor in 1892 was $202,944,342. 

No other nation can match the commercial progress which these 
figures disclose. Our compassion may well go out to those who.se 
party necessities and habits still compel them to declare that our 
people are oppressed and our trade restricted by a protective tariff". 

It is not possible for me to refer, even in the briefest way, to 
many of the topics presented in the resolutions adopted by the 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiija»iiii Ilarn'sivi. 25 

conventiiMi. Upon all that have not been discussed I have before 
publicly expressed my views. 

A change in the personnel of a national administration is of 
comparatively little moment. If those exercising public functions 
are able, honest, diligent, and faithful, others possessing all these 
qualities may be found to take their places. But changes in the 
laws and administrative policies are of great moment. When public 
affairs have been given a direction and business has adjusted itself 
to these lines, any sudden change involves a stoppage and new 
business adjustments. If the change of direction is so radical as 
to bring the commercial turn-table into use the business changes 
in\olved are not readjustments, but reconstructions. 

The Democratic party offers a programme of demolition. The 
protective policy — to which all business, even that of the importer, 
is now adjusted — the reciprocity policy, the new merchant marine, 
are all t(i be demolished, not gradually, not taken down, but blown 
up. To this programme of destruction it has added one construc- 
tive feature, tlie reestablishment of State banks of issue. 

The policy of the Republican party is, on the other hand, 
distinctively a polic}of safe progression and develoj^ment — of new 
factories, new markets, and new ships. It will subject business to 
no perilous changes, but offers attractive opportunities for expansion 
upon familiar lines. 

Very respectfully yours, 

Benj. H.^rrison. 

Washington, D. C, 

September ^^ iSy2. 



26 Public Papers ami Addresses of Benjamm Harrison. 
INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

MARCH 4, 1889. 

There is no constitutional or legal requirement that the President 
shall take the oath of office in the presence of the people. But 
there is so manifest an appropriateness in the public induction to 
office of the chief executive officer of the nation that from the begin- 
ning of the Government the people, to whose service tlie official oath 
consecrates the officer, have been called to witness the solemn cere- 
monial. The oath taken in tlie presence of the people becomes a 
mutual covenant ; the officer covenants to serve the whole body of 
the people by a faithful execution of the laws, so that they may be 
the unfailing defense and security of those who respect and obser\-e 
them, and that neither wealth and station nor the power of combi- 
nations shall be able to evade their just penalties or to wrest them 
from a beneficent public purpose to serve the ends of cruelty or sel- 
fishness. My promise is spoken ; yours unspoken, but not the less 
real and solemn. The people of every State have here their repre- 
sentatives. Surely I do not misinterpret the spirit of the occasion 
when I assume that the whole bod\of the people covenant with me 
and with each other to-day to support and defend the Constitution 
and the Union of the States, to yield willing obedience to all the 
laws and each to every other citizen his equal civil and political 
rights. Entering thus solemnly in covenant with each other, we 
may reverently invoke and confidently expect the favor and help 
of Almighty God, that He will give to me wisdom, strength, and 
fidelity, and to our people a spirit of fraternity and a love of 
righteousness and peace. 

This occasion derives peculiar interest from the fact that the 
presidential term which begins this day is the twenty-sixth under 
our Constitution. The first inauguration of President Washington 
took place in New York, where Congress was then sitting, on Ajjril 
30, 1789, having been deferred by reason of delaj's attending the 
organization of the Congress and the canvass of the electoral vote. 
Our people have already worthily observed the centennials of the 
Declaration of Independence, of the battle of Yorktown, and of the 
adoption of the Constitution, and will shortly celebrate in New 
York the institution of the second great department of our consti- 
tutional scheme of government. When the centennial of the insti- 
tution of the judicial department b)- the organization of the Supreme 



Public Papers a)id Addresses of Ilcujaiiiin Harrison. 27 

Court shall have been suitalily observed, as I trust it will be, our 
nation will have fulh- entered its second centur\'. 

I will not attempt to note the marvelous and, in great part, happy 
contrasts between our country as it steps over the threshold into its 
second century of organized existence under the Constitution, and 
that weak but wisely ordered young nation that looked uudauntedl)- 
down the first century, when all its years stretched out before it. 

Our people will not fail at this time to recall the incidents which 
accompanied the institution of government under the Constitution, 
or to find inspiration and guidance in the teachings and example of 
Washington and his great associates, and hope and courage in the 
contrast which thirty-eight populous and prosperous States oiTer to 
the thirteen States, weak in everything except courage and the love 
of liberty, that then fringed our Atlantic seaboard. 

The Territory of Dakota has now a population greater than any 
of the original States — except Virginia — and greater than theaggre- 
gate of five of the smaller States in 1790. The center of population 
when our national capital was located was east of Baltimore, and it 
was argued bv many well-informed persons that it would move 
eastward rather than westward. Yet in 1880 it was found to be 
near Cincinnati, and the new census, about to be taken, will show 
another stride to the westward. That which was the body has come 
to be only the rich fringe of the nation's robe. But our growth has 
not been limited to territory, population, and aggregate wealth, 
marvelous as it has been in each of those directions. The masses 
of our people are better fed, clothed, and housed than their fathers 
were. The fiicilities for i:)opular education have been vastK' enlarged 
and more generally diflfused. The virtues of courage and patriotism 
have given recent proof of their continued presence and increasing 
power in the hearts and o\'er the lives of our people. The influences 
of religion have been multiplied and strengthened. The sweet 
offices of charity have greath' increased. The virtue of temperance 
is held in higher estimation. We have not attained an ideal 
condition. Not all of our people are hap])y and prosperous; not 
all of them are virtuous and law-abiding. But, on the whole, the 
opportunities offered to the individual to secure the comforts of 
life are better than are found elsewhere, and largely better than they 
were here a hundred years ago. 

The surrender of a large measure of sovereignty to the General 
Government, effected by the adoption of the Constitution, was not 
accomplished until the suggestions of reason were strongly reen- 
forced by the more imperative voice of experience. The divergent 
interests of j^eace speedily demanded a "more perfect union." The 



28 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

merchant, the shipmaster, and the manufacturer discovered and 
disclosed to our statesmen and to the people that commercial eman- 
cipation must be added to the political freedom which had been so 
bravely won. The commercial policy of the mother country had 
not relaxed any of its hard and oppressive features. To hold in 
check the development of our commercial marine, to prevent or 
retard the establishment and growth of manufactures in the States, 
and so to secure the American market for their shops and the carry- 
ing trade for their ships, was the policy of European statesmen, and 
was pursued with the most selfish vigor. Petitions poured in upon 
Congress urging the imposition of discriminating duties that should 
encourage the production of needed things at home. The patriot- 
ism of the people, which no longer found a field of exercise in war, 
was energetically directed to the duty of equipping the young 
republic for the defence of its independence by making its people 
.self-dependent. Societies for the promotion of home manufactures 
and for encouraging the use of domestics in the dress of the people 
vvere organized in many of the States. The revival at the end of 
the centurv of the .same patriotic interest in the preservation and 
development of domestic industries and the defense of our working 
people against injurious foreign competition is an incident worthy 
of attention. 

It is not a departure, but a return that we have witnessed. The 
protective policy had then its opponents. The argument was made, 
as now, that its benefits inured to particular classes or sections. 
If the question became in any sense, oi at any time, sectional, it 
was only because slavery existed in some of the States. But for 
this there was no reason why the cotton producing States should 
not have led or walked abreast with the New England States in the 
production of cotton fabrics. There was this reason only why the 
States that divide with Pennsylvania the mineral treasures of the 
great southeastern and central mountain ranges should ha\e been 
so tardy in bringing to the smelting furnace and the mill the coal 
and iron from their near opposing hillsides. Mill fires were lighted 
at the funeral pile of slavery. The emancipation proclamation was 
heard in the depths of the earth as well as in the sky ; men were 
made free and material things became our better servants. 

The sectional element has happily been eliminated from the tariff 
discussion. We have no longer States that are necessarily only 
planting States. None are excluded from achieving that diversi- 
fication of pursuit among the people which brings wealth and 
contentment. The cotton plantation will not be less valuable 
when the product is spun in the country town by operatives whose 



Public Papers ami .Iddrcsses of Bciijaiitiii Harrison. 29 

necessities call for diversified crops and create a home demand for 
garden and agricnltnral jiroducts. Every new mine, furnace, and 
factory is an extension of the productive capacity of the State more 
real and valuable than added territory. 

Shall the prejudices and paralysis of slavery continue to hang 
upon the skirts of progress? How long will those who rejoice ihat 
slavery no longer exists cherish or tolerate the incapacities it puts 
upon their communities? I look hopefully to the continuance of 
our protective system and to the consequent development of manu- 
facturing and mining enterprises in the States hitherto wholly given 
to agriculture as a potent influence in the perfect unification of our 
people. The men who have invested their capital in the.se enter- 
prises, the farmers who have felt the benefit of their neighborhood, 
and the men who work in shop or field will not fail to find and to 
defend a community of interest. Is it not quite possible that the 
farmers and the promoters of the great mining and manufacturing 
enterprises which have recently been established in the South may 
yet find that the free ballot of the workingman, without distinction 
of race, is needed for their defense as well as for his own? I do not 
doubt that if these men in the vSouth who now accept the tariff 
views of Clay and the constitutional expositions of Webster would 
courageously avow and defend their real convictions they would not 
find it difiicult, by friendly instruction and cooperation, to make the 
black man their eflScient and safe ally, not only in establishing cor- 
rect principles in our national administration, but in preserving for 
their local communities the benefits of social order and economical 
and honest government. At least until the good offices of kindness 
and education have been fairly tried the contrary conclusion can not 
be plausibly urged. 

I have altogether rejected the suggestion of a special executive 
l)olic\- for any section of our countr}-. It is the dut\" of the 
E.xecutive to administer and enforce, in the methods and by the 
instrumentalities pointed out and provided by the Constitution, all 
the laws enacted by Congress. These laws are general, and their 
administration should be uniform and ecpial. As a citizen may not 
elect what laws he will obey, neither may the Executive elect which 
he will enforce. The duty to obey and execute embraces the 
Constitution in its entirety and the whole code of laws enacted under 
it. The evil example of permitting individuals, corporations, or 
communities to nullify the laws because they cross some selfish or 
local interests or prejudices, is full of danger, not only to the nation 
at large, but much more to those who use this pernicious expedient 
to escape their just obligations or to obtain an unjust advantage over 



30 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjauiin Harrison. 

others. They will presently themselves be compelled to appeal to 
the law for protection, and those who would use the law as a defense 
must not deny that use of it to others. 

If our great corporations would more scrupulously observe their 
legal obligations and duties, they would have less cause to complain 
of the unlawful limitations of their rights or of violent interference 
with their operations. The community that by concert, open or 
secret, among its citizens, denies to a portion of its members their 
plain rights under the law, has severed the only safe bond of social 
order and prosperity. The evil works, from a bad center, both 
ways. It demoralizes those who practice it, and destroys the faith 
of those who suffer by it in the efficiency of the law as a safe pro- 
tector. The man in whose breast that faith has been darkened is 
naturally the subject of dangerous and uncanny suggestions. Those 
who use unlawful methods, if moved by no higher motive than the 
selfishness that prompts them, may well stop and inquire what is 
to be the end of this. An unlawful expedient can not become a 
permanent condition of government. If the educated and influen- 
tial classes in a community either practice or connive at the system- 
atic violation of laws that seem to them to cross their convenience, 
what can they expect when the lesson that convenience or a supposed 
class interest is a sufficient cause for lawlessness has been well learned 
by the ignorant classes? A community where law is the rule of 
conduct, and where courts, not mobs, execute its penalties, is the 
only attractive field for business investments and honest labor. 

Our naturalization laws should be so amended as to make the 
inquiry into the character and good disposition of persons apj^lying 
for citizenship more careful and searching. Our existing laws have 
been in their administration an unimpressive and often an unintel- 
ligible form. We accept the man as a citizen without any knowledge 
of his fitness, and he assumes the duties of citizenship without any 
knowledge as to what they are. The privileges of American citi- 
zenship are so great and its duties so grave that we may well insist 
upon a good knowledge of every person applying for citizenship and 
a good knowledge by him of our institutions. We should not cease 
to be hospitable to immigration, but we should cease to be careless 
as to the character of it. There are men of all races even the best, 
whose coming is necessarily a burden upon our public revenues or 
a threat to social order. These should be identified and excluded. 

We have happily maintained a policy of avoiding all interference 
with European affairs. We have been only interested spectators of 
their contentions in diplomacy and in war, ready to use our friendly 
offices to promote peace, but never obtruding our advice and never 



Public Papers and Addresses of Reiijaimii J/an ismi. y 

attempting unfairly to coin the distresses of other powers into coin- 
niercial advantage to ourselves. We have a just right to expect 
that our European polic>- will be the American polic\- of European 
courts. 

It is .so manifestly incompatil)Ie with those precautions for our 
peace and .safety, which all the great powers haljitually observe and 
enforce in matters affecting them, that a shorter water way between 
our eastern and western seaboards should be dominated by any 
European government, that we may confidently expect that such a 
purpose will not be entertained by any friendly power. We shall 
in the future, as in the past, use every endeavor to maintain and 
enlarge our friendly relations with all the great powers, but they 
will not e.xpect us to look kindly upon any project that would lea\e 
us subject to the dangers of a hostile observation or environment. 

We have not sought to dominate or to absorb an\- of our weaker 
neighbors, but rather to aid and encourage them to establish free 
and stable governments, resting upon the consent of their own peo- 
ple. We have a clear right to expect, therefore, that no European 
government will seek to establish colonial dependencies upon the 
territory of these independent American States. That which a sense 
of justice restrains us from seeking they may be reasonably expected 
willingly to forego. 

It must not be assumed, however, that our interests are so exclu- 
sivel\- American that our entire inattention to any events that niav 
trau.spire elsewhere can be taken for granted. Our citizens domi- 
ciled for purposes of trade in all countries and in many of the islands 
of the sea demand and will have our adequate care in their personal 
and commercial rights. The necessities of our navy require con- 
venient coaling stations and dock and harbor privileges. These and 
other trading privileges we will feel free to obtain only by means 
that do not in any degree partake of coercion, however feeble the 
Government from which we ask such concessions. But having 
fairly obtained them by methods, and for purposes entirely consist- 
ent with the most friendly disposition toward all other powers, our 
con,sent will be necessary to any modification or impairment of the 
concession. 

We shall neither fail to respect the flag of any friendlv nation or 
the just rights of its citizens, nor to e.xact the like treatment for our 
own. Calmness, justice, and consideration should characterize our 
diplomacy. The offices of an intelligent diplomacy or of friendlv 
arbitration, in projjer cases, should be adequate to the peaceful 
adjustment of all international difficulties. By such methods we 
will make our contribution to the world's peace, which no nation 



32 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

values more highly, and avoid the opprobrium which must fall 
upon the nation that ruthlessly breaks it. 

The duty devolved by law upon the President to nominate and, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint all 
public officers whose appointment is not otherwise provided for in 
the Constitution or by act of Congress has become very burdensome, 
and its wise and efficient discharge full of difficulty. The civil list 
is so large that a personal knowledge of any large number of the 
applicants is impossible. The President must rely upon the repre- 
sentations of others, and these are often made inconsiderately and 
without any just sense of responsibility. 

I have a right, I think, to insist that those who volunteer or are 
invited to give advice as to appointments shall exercise considera- 
tion and fidelity. A high sense of duty and an ambition to improve 
the service should characterize all public officers. There are many 
ways in which the convenience and comfort of those who have 
business with our public officers may be promoted by a thoughtful 
and obliging officer, and I shall expect those whom I may appoint 
to justify their selection by a conspicuous efficiency in the discharge 
of their duties. Honorable party service will certainly not be 
esteemed by me a disqualification for public office ; but it will in 
no case be allowed to serve as a shield for official negligence, incom- 
petency, or delinquency. It is entirely creditable to seek public 
office by proper methods and with proper motives, and all applica- 
tions will be treated with consideration ; but I shall need, and the 
heads of departments will need, time for inquiry and deliberation. 
Persistent importunity will not, therefore, be the best support of an 
application for office. 

Heads of departments, bureaus, and all other public officers hav- 
ing any duty connected therewith, will be expected to enforce the 
civil-service law fully and without evasion. Beyond this obvious 
duty I hope to do something more to advance the reform of the civil 
service. The ideal, or even my own ideal, I shall probably not 
attain. Retrospect will be a safer basis of judgment than promises. 
We shall not, however, I am sure, be able to put our civil service 
upon a nonpartisan basis until we have secured an incumbency that 
fair minded men of the opposition will approve for impartiality and 
integrity. As the number of such in the civil list is increased 
removals from office will diminish. 

While a treasury surplus is not the greatest evil, it is a serious 
evil. Our revenue should be ample to meet the ordinary annual 
demands upon our treasury, with a sufficient margin for those extra- 
ordinary but scarcely less imperative demands which arise now and 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. ^t^ 

then. Expenditure sliould always be nuuk- witli economv, and only 
upon public necessity. Wastefulness, profligacy, or favoritism in 
public expenditures is criminal, but there is nothing in the con- 
dition of our country or of our people to suggest that anything 
presently necessary to the public prosperity, security-, or honor 
should be unduly postponed. It will be the duty of Congress wisely 
to forecast and estimate the.se extraordinar\- demands, and, having 
added them to our ordinary expenditures, to so adjust our revenue 
laws that no considerable annual surplus will remain. We will 
fortunately be able to apply to the redemption of the public debt 
any small and unforeseen excess of revenue. This is better than to 
reduce our income below our necessary expenditures with the result- 
ing choice between another change of our revenue laws and an 
increase of the public debt. It is quite possible, I am sure, to effect 
the necessary reduction in our revenues without breaking down our 
protective tariff or seriously injuring any domestic industry. 

The construction of a sufficient number of modern war ships 
and of their necessary armament should progress as rapidly as is 
consistent with care and perfection in plans and workmanship. The 
spirit, courage, and skill of our naval officers and seamen have 
many times in our histor\- given to weak ships and inefficient guns 
a rating greatly beyond that of the naval list. That they will again 
do so upon occasion I do not doubt ; but the\- ought not, by 
premeditation or neglect, to be left to the risks and exigencies of 
an unequal combat. 

We should encourage the establishment of American steamship 
lines. The exchanges of connnerce demand stated, reliable, and 
rapid means of communication, and until the.se are provided the 
development of our trade with the states Iving south of us is 
impo.ssible. 

Our pension law should give more adequate and discriminating 
relief to the Union soldiers and sailors and to their widows and 
orphans. Such occasions as this should remind us that we owe 
everything to their valor and sacrifice. 

It is a subject of congratulation that there is a near prospect of 
the admission into the Union of the Dakotas 'and Montana and 
Washington Territories. This act of justice has been unreasonabh- 
delayed in the case of some of them. The people who have settled 
tho.se Territories are intelligent, enterprising, and patriotic, and 
the accession of these new States will add strength to the nation. 
It is due to the .settlers in the Territories who have availed them- 
selves of the invitations of our land laws to make homes upon the 
15151 3 



34 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

public domain that their titles should be speedily adjusted and tlieir 
honest entries confirmed by patent. 

It is very gratifying; to observe the general interest now being 
manifested in the reform of our election laws. Those who have 
been for years calling attention to the pressing necessity of throw- 
ing about the ballot-box and about the elector further safeguards, 
in order that our elections might not only be free and pure, but 
might clearly appear to be so, will welcome the accession of any 
who did not so soon discover the need of reform. The national 
Congress has not as yet taken control of elections in that case over 
which the Constitution gives it jurisdiction, but has accepted and 
adopted the election laws of the several States, provided penalties 
for their violation and a method of supervision. Only the ineffi- 
ciency of the State laws or an unfair partisan administration of 
them could suggest a departure from this policy. It was clearly, 
however, in the contemplation of the framers of the Constitution 
that such an exigency might arise, and provision was wisely made 
for it. No power vested in Congress or in the Executive to secure 
or perpetuate it should remain unused upon occasion. 

The people of all the Congressional districts have an equal interest 
that the election in each shall truly express the views and wishes of 
a majority of the qualified electors residing within it. The results 
of such elections are not local, and the insistence of electors residing 
in other districts that they shall be pure and free does not savor at 
all of impertinence. If in any of the States the public security 
is thought to be threatened by ignorance among the electors, the 
obvious remedy is education. The sympathy and help of our people 
will not be withheld from any community struggling with special 
embarrassments or difficulties connected with the suffrage, if the 
remedies proposed proceed upon lawful lines and are promoted by 
just and honorable methods. How shall those who practice election 
frauds recover that respect for the sanctity of the ballot which is the 
first condition and obligation of good citizenship ? The man who 
has come to regard the ballot-box as a juggler's hat has renounced 
his allegiance. 

Let us exalt patriotism and moderate our party contentions. Let 
those who would die for the flag on the field of battle give a better 
proof of their patriotism and a higher glory to their country by 
promoting fraternity and justice. A party success that is achieved 
by unfair methods or by practices that partake of revolution is hurt- 
ful and evanescent, even from a party standpoint. We should hold 
our differing opinions in mutual respect, and, having submitted 
them to the arbitrament of the ballot, should accept an adverse 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bciijainiii I/arrisoii. 35 

judgment with the same respect that we would have demanded of 
our opponents if the decision had been in our favor. 

No other people have a government more worthy of tlieir respect 
and love, or a land so magnificent in extent, so pleasant to look 
upon, and so full of generous suggestion to enterprise and laljor. 
God has placed upon our head a diadem, and has laid at our feet 
power and wealth beyond definition or calculation. But we must 
not forget that we take these gifts tipon the condition that justice 
and mercy shall hold the reins of powe/, and that the upward ave- 
nues of hope shall be free to all the people. 

I do not mistrust the future. Dangers have been in frequent 
ambu,sh along our path, but we have uncovered and vanquished 
them all. Passion has swept some of our communities, but only to 
give us a new demonstration that the great body of our people are 
stable, patriotic, and law-abiding. No political party can long 
pursue advantage at the expense of public honor or by rude and 
indecent methods without protest and fatal disaffection in its own 
body. The peaceful agencies of commerce arc more fidly revealing 
the necessary unity of all our connnunitics, and the increasing inter- 
course of our people is promoting mutual respect. We shall find 
unalloyed pleasure in the revelation which our next census will 
make of the swift development of the great resources of some of 
the States. Each State will bring its generous contribution to the 
great aggregate of the nation's increase. And when the harvest 
from the fields, the cattle from the hills, and the ores of the earth 
shall have been weighed, counted, and valued, we will turn from 
them all to crown with the highest honor the State that has most 
promoted education, virtue, justice, and patriotism among the 
people. 



36 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

ANNUAL MESSAGES TO CONGRESS. 

I. 

DECEMBER 3. 1889. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

There are few transactions in the administration of the Cjovern- 
ment that are even temporarily held in the confidence of those 
charged with the conduct of the public business. Every step taken 
is under the observation of an intelligent and watchful people. The 
state of the Union is known from day to day, and suggestions as to 
needed legislation find an earlier voice than that which speaks in 
these annual communications of the President to Congress. 

Good-will and cordiality have characterized our relations and 
correspondence with other governments, and the year just closed 
leaves few international questions of importance remaining unad- 
justed. No obstacle is believed to exist that can long postpone the 
consideration and adjustment of the still pending questions upon 
satisfactory and honorable terms. The dealings of this Govern- 
ment with other states have been and should always be marked by 
frankness and sincerity, and purposes avowed, and our methods 
free from intrigue. This course has borne rich fruit in the past, 
and it is our duty as a nation to preserve the heritage of good repute 
which a century of right dealing with foreign governments has 
secured to us. 

It is a matter of high significance, and no less of congratulation, 
that the first year of the second century of our constitutional exist- 
ence finds, as honored guests within our borders, the representa- 
tives of all the independent states of North and South America met 
together in earnest conference touching the best methods of perpet- 
uating and expanding the relations of mutual interest and friendli- 
ness existing among them. That the opportunity thus afforded for 
promoting closer international relations and the increased prosperity 
of the states represented will be used for the mutual good of all, 
I can not permit myself to doubt. Our people will await with 
interest and confidence the results to flow from so auspicious a 
meeting of allied and, in large part, identical interests. 

The recommendations of this international conference of enlight- 
ened statesmen will doubtless have the considerate attention of 
Congress, and its cooperation in the removal of unnecessary barriers 
to beneficial intercourse between the nations of America. But 



Public Papers and Addrrssch- of Bciijauiin Harrison. 37 

while the commercial results which it is hoped will follow this 
conference are worthy of pursuit and of the great interest they 
have excited, it is believed that the crowning benefit will be found 
in the better securities which may be devised for the maintenance 
of peace among all American nations and the settlement of all 
contentions b)' methods that a Christian civilization can approve. 
While viewing with interest our national resources and products, 
the delegates will, I am sure, find a higher satisfaction in the 
evidence of unselfish friendship which everywhere attend their 
intercourse with our people. 

Another international conference, having great po.ssibilities for 
good, has lately assembled and is now in session in this capital. 
An invitation was extended by the Government, under the act of 
Congress of July 9, 1888, to all maritime nations to send delegates 
to confer touching the revision and amendment of the rules and 
regulations governing vessels at sea and to adopt a uniform system 
of marine signals. The response to this invitation has been ver}' 
general and very cordial. Delegates from twenty-six nations are 
present in the conference, and they have entered upon their useful 
work with great zeal, and with an evident appreciation of its 
importance. So far as the agreement to be reached may require 
legislation to give it effect, the coiiperation of Congress is confi- 
dently relied upon. 

It is an interesting, if not indeed an unprecedented fact, that the 
two international conferences have brought together here the 
accredited representatives of thirty-three nations. 

Bolivia, Ecuador, and Honduras are now represented by resident 
envoys of the plenipotentiary grade. All the states of the American 
system now maintain diplomatic representation at this capital. 

In this connection it may be noted that all the nations of the 
western hemisphere, with one exception, send to Washington envoys 
extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, being the highest grade 
accredited to this Government. The United States, on the con- 
trary, sends envoys of lower grade to some of our sister republics. 
Our representative in Paraguay and Uruguay is a minister resident, 
while to Bolivia we send a minister resident and consul-general. In 
view of the importance of our relations with the states of the 
American system, our diplomatic agents in those countries should 
be of the uniform rank of envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- 
potentiary. Certain missions were so elevated b}- the last Congress 
with happy effect, and I recommend the completion of the reform 
thus begun, with the inclusion also of Hawaii and Hayti, in \'iew 
of their relations to the American svstem of states. 



38 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

I also reconnneiid that timely provision be made for extending to 
Hawaii an invitation to be represented in the international confer- 
ence now sitting at this capital. 

Our relations with China have the attentive consideration which 
their magnitnde and interest demand. The failure of the treaty 
negotiated under the administration of my predecessor for the 
further and more complete restriction of Chinese labor immigration, 
and, with it, the legislation of the last session of Congress dependent 
thereon, leaves some questions open which Congress should now 
approach in that wise and just spirit which should characterize the 
relations of two great and friendl)- powers. While our supreme 
interests demand the exclusion of a laboring element which experience 
has shown to be incompatible with our social life, all steps to compass 
this imperative need should be accompanied with a recognition of 
the claim of those strangers now lawfully among lis to humane and 
just treatment. 

The accession of the young Emperor of China marks, we may 
hope, an era of progress and prosperity for the great country over 
which he is called to rule. 

The present state of affairs in respect to the vSamoan Islands is 
encouraging. The conference which was held in this city in the 
summer of 1887 between the representatives of the United States, 
Germany, and Great Britain having been adjourned becau.se of the 
persistent divergence of views which was developed in its delibera- 
tions, the subsequent course of events in the islands gave rise to 
questions of a serious character. On the 4th of February last, the 
German minister at this capital, in behalf of his Government, pro- 
posed a resumption of the conference at Berlin. This proposition 
was accepted, as Congress, in February last, was informed. 

Pursuant to the understanding thus reached, commissioners were 
appointed by me, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
who proceeded to Berlin, where the conference was renewed. The 
deliberations extended through several weeks, and resulted in the 
conclusion of a treaty which will be submitted to the Senate for its 
approval. I trust that the efforts which have been made to effect 
an adjustment of this question will be productive of the permanent 
establishment of law and order in Samoa upon the basis of the 
maintenance of the rights and interests of the natives as well as of 
the treaty powers. 

The questions which have arisen during the past few years between 
Great Britain and the United States are in abeyance or in course 
of amicable adjustment. 

On the part of the Government of the Dominion of Canada an 



Public Papers and Addresses of Rcujanihi Harrison. 39 

effort has been apparent clnrinj;- the season just ended to administer 
the laws and re.i;nlations applicable to the fisheries with as little 
occasion for friction as was possible, and the temperate representa- 
tions of this ( Hivernment in respect of cases of nndne hardship or 
of harsh interpretations have been in most cases met with measures 
of transitory relief It is trusted that the ; ttainment of our just 
rights under existiuo- treaties and in virtue of the concurrent 162:15- 
lation of the two contiguous countries will uot be long deferred and 
that all existing causes of difference may be equitably adjusted. 

I recommend that provision be made by an international agree- 
ment for visibly marking the water boundary between the United 
States and Canada in the narrow channels that join the Great lyakes. 
The conventional line therein traced by the Northwestern Boundary 
Surve\", years ago, is not in all cases readily ascertainable for the 
settlement of jurisdictional questions. 

A just and acceptable enlargement of the list of offenses for which 
extradition may be claimed and granted is most desirable between 
this country and Great Britain. The territory of neither should 
become a secure harbor for the evil-doers of the other through any 
avoidable short-coming in this regard. A new treaty on this subject 
between the two powers has been recently negotiated and will soon 
be laid before the Senate. 

The importance of the commerce of Cuba and Porto Rico with 
the United States, their nearest and principal market, justifies the 
expectation that the existing relations may be beneficially expanded. 
The impediments resulting from var\ing dues on navigation and 
from the vexatious treatment of our vessels, on merely technical 
grounds of complaint, in West India ports, should be removed. 

The progress toward an adjustment of pending claims between 
the United States and Spain is not as rapid as could be desired. 

Questions affecting American interests in connection with railways 
constructed and operated by our citizens in Peru have claimed the 
attention of this Government. It is urged that other governments, 
in pressing Peru to the payment of their claims, have disregarded 
the propert\- rights of .\merican citizens. The matter will be care- 
fully investigated, with the view to securing a proper and equitable 
adjustment. 

A similar issue is now pending with Portugal. The Delagoa Bay 
Railwa)' in Africa was constructed under a concession by Portugal 
to an American citizen. When nearly completed the road was seized 
by the agents of the Portuguese Government. Formal protest has 
been made through our minister at Lisbon against this act, and no 
proper effort will be spared to secure proper relief 



40 l^'iihlic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

In pursuance of the charter granted by Congress, and under the 
terms of its contract with the Government of Nicaragua, the Inter- 
oceanic Canal Company has begun the construction of the important 
water way between the two oceans which its organization contem- 
plates. Grave complications for a time seemed imminent, in view 
of a supposed conflict of jurisdiction between Nicaragua and Costa 
Rica in regard to the accessory privileges to be conceded by the 
latter Republic toward the construction of works on the San Juan 
River, of which the right bank is Costa Rican territory. I am happy 
to learn that a friendly arrangement has been effected between the 
two nations. This Government has held itself ready to promote in 
every projDcr way the adjustment of all questions that might present 
obstacles to the completion of a work of such transcendent impor- 
tance to the commerce of this country, and indeed to the commercial 
interests of the world. 

The traditional good-feeling between this country and the French 
Republic has received additional testimony in the participation of 
our Government and people in the international exposition held 
at Paris during the past summer. The success of our exhibitors 
has been gratifying. The report of the commission will be laid 
before Congress in due season. 

This Government has accepted, under proper reserve as to its 
policy in foreign territories, the invitation of the Government of 
Belgium to take part in an international congress, which opened 
at Brussels on the i6th of November, for the purpose of devising 
measures to promote the abolition of the slave-trade in Africa and 
to prevent the shipment of slaves by sea. Our interest in the 
extinction of this crime against humanity, in the regions where it 
yet survives, has been increased by the results of emancipation 
within our own borders. 

With Germany the most cordial relations continue. The questions 
arising from the return to the Empire of Germans naturalized in this 
country are considered and disposed of in a temperate spirit, to the 
entire satisfaction of both Governments. 

It is a source of great satisfaction that the internal disturbances 
of the Republic of Hayti are at last happily ended, and that an 
apparently stable government has been constituted. It has been 
duly recognized b)- the United States. 

A mixed commission is now in session in this capital for the set- 
tlement of long-standing claims against the Republic of Venezuela, 
and it is hoped that a .satisfactory conclusion will be speedih- reached. 
This Government has not hesitated to express its earnest desire 
that the boundar}- dispute now pending between (ireat Britain and 



Public Papers and .Iddrcsscs of Bciijamiii Harrison. 41 

Venezuela may Ik- adjusted ainicabl}- and iu strict accordance with 
the historic title of the parties. 

The advancement of the Empire of Japan has been evidenced by 
the recent promulgation of a new constitution, containing- vahiable 
guaranties of liberty and providing for a responsible ministry to 
conduct the government. 

It is earnestly recommended that our judicial rights and processes 
in Corea be established on a firm basis, by providing the machinery 
necessary to carr\- out treaty stipulations iu that regard. 

The friendliness of the Persian Government continues to be shown 
by its generous treatment of Americans engaged in missionary labors, 
and by the cordial disposition of the Shah to encourage the enter- 
prise of our citizens in the development of Persian resources. 

A discussion is in progress touching the jurisdictional treaty rights 
of the United States in Turkey. An earnest effort will be made to 
define those rights to the satisfaction of both Governments. 

Questions continue to arise in our relations with several countries 
in respect to the rights of naturalized citizens. Especially is this 
the case with France, Italy, Rus.sia, and Turkey, and to a less extent 
with Switzerland. From time to time earnest efforts Iiave been made 
to regulate this subject by conventions with those countries. An 
improper use of naturalization should not be permitted, but it is 
most important that tho.se who have been duly naturalized should 
everywhere be accorded recognition of the rights pertaining to the 
citizenship of the country of their adoption. The appropriateness 
of special conventions for that purpose is recognized in treaties 
which this Government has concluded with a number of European 
states, and it is advisable that the difficulties which now arise in 
our relations with other countries on tlie same subject should be 
similarly adjusted. 

The recent revolution in Brazil in favor of the establishment of 
a republican form of government is an event of great interest 
to the United States. Our minister at Rio de Janeiro was at 
once instructed to maintain friendly diplomatic relations with the 
provisional government, and the Brazilian representatives at this 
capital were instructed by the provisional government to continue 
their functions. Our friendly intercourse with Brazil has, therefore, 
suffered no interruption. 

Our minister has been further instructed to extend on the part of 
this Government a formal and cordial recognition of the new 
Republic .so soon as the majority of the i^^ople of Brazil shall have 
signified their assent to its establishment and nuiintenance. 

Within our own borders a general condition of jjrosperity prevails. 



42 Public Papers and Addresses of Betijamin Harrison. 

The harvests of the last summer were exceptionally abundant, and 
the trade conditions now prevailing seem to promise a successful 
season to the merchant and the manufacturer, and general employ- 
ment to our working people. 

The report of the Secretar\- of the Treasury for the fiscal year 
ending Jtine 30, 1889, has been prepared, and will be presented to 
Congress. It presents with clearness the fiscal operations of the 
Government, and I avail myself of it to obtain some facts for use 
here. 

The aggregate receipts from all sources for the }-ear were 
$387,050,058.84, derived as follows: 

From customs $223,832,741.69 

From internal revenue 130,881,513.92 

From miscellaneous sources 32,335,803.23 

The ordinary expenditures for the same period were $281,996,- 
615.60, and the total expenditures, including the sinking fund, were 
$329,579,929.25. The excess of receipts over expenditures was, 
after providing for the sinking fund, $57,470,129.59. 

For the current fiscal year the total revenues, actual and estimated, 
are $385,000,000, and the ordinary expenditures, actual and esti- 
mated, are $293,000,000, making, with the sinking fund, a total 
expenditure of $341,321,116.99, leaving an estimated surplus of 
$43,678,883.01. 

During the fiscal }-ear there were applied to the purchase of bonds, 
in addition to those for the sinking fund, $90,456,172.35, and dur- 
ing the first quarter of the current year the sum of $37,838,937.77, 
all of which were credited to the sinking fund. The revenues for 
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891, are estimated by the Treasury 
Department at $385,000,000, and the expenditures for the same 
period, including the sinking fund, at $341,430,477.70. This shows 
an estimated surplus for that year of $43,569,522.30, which is more 
likely to be increased than reduced when the actual transactions 
are written up. 

The existence of so large an actual and anticipated surplus should 
have the immediate attention of Congress, with a view to reducing 
the receipts of the Treasury to the needs of the Government as closely 
as may be. The collection of moneys not needed for public uses 
imposes an unnecessary burden upon our people, and the presence 
of so large a surplus in the public vaults is a disturbing element in 
the conduct of pri\ate business. It has called into use expedients 
for putting it into circulation of very questionable propriety. We 
should not collect revenue for the purjDOse of anticipating our bonds, 



Public Pcipers and .Iddrcsscs of Bciijaiuiii dlarrisou. 43 

beyond the requirements of the sinking fund, but any unappro- 
priated surplus in the Treasury should be so used, as there is no 
other lawful way of returning the money to circulation, and the 
profit realized by the Government offers a substantial advantage. 

The loaning of public funds to the banks without interest, upon 
the security of Government bonds, I regard as an unauthorized 
and dangerous expedient. It results in a temporar\- and unnatural 
increa.sc of the banking capital of favored localities, and compels a 
cautious and gradual recall of the deposits to avoid \\\)\\x\ to the 
commercial interests. It is not to be expected that the banks 
having these deposits will sell their bonds to the Treasury so long 
as the present highly beneficial arrangement is continued. They 
now practically get interest both upon the bonds and their proceeds. 
No further use should be made of this method of getting the sur- 
plus into circulation, and the deposits now outstanding should be 
gradually withdrawn and applied to the purchase of bonds. It is 
fortunate that such a use can be made of the existing surplus, and 
for some time to come of any casual surplus that may exist after 
Congress has taken the necessary steps for a reduction of the revenue. 
Such legislation should be prompth-, but very considerately, enacted. 

I recommend a revision of our tariff law, both in its administra- 
trative features and in the schedules. The need of the former is 
generally conceded and an agreement upon the evils and incon- 
veniences to be remedied and the best methods for their correction 
will probably not be difficult. Uniformity of valuation at all our 
ports is essential, and effecti\-e measures should be taken to secure 
it. It is equally desirable that questions affecting rates and classi- 
fications should be promptly decided. 

The preparation of a new schedule of customs duties is a matter 
of great delicacy because of its direct effect upon the business of the 
country, and of great difficult)- by reason of the wide divergence of 
opinion as to the objects that may properly be promoted by such 
legislation. Some disturbance of business may perhaps result from 
the consideratio; of this subject by Congress, but this temporary ill 
effect will be reducen ''o the minimum b\- prompt action and by the 
assurance which the country already enjoys that auv necessary 
changes will be .so made as not to impair the just and reasonable 
protection of our home indus'"ries. The inequalities of the law 
should be adjusted, but the protective principle .should be main- 
tained and fairly applied to the pro>Hicts of our farms as well as of 
our shops. These duties necessarily have relation to other things 
besides the public revenues. We can nOt limit their effects by fixing 
our eyes on the public treasury alone. Tliey have a direct relation 



44 Public Papers attd Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

to home production, to work, to wages, and to the commercial 
independence of our country, and the wise and patriotic legislator 
should enlarge the field of his vision to include all of these. 

The necessary reduction in our public revenues can, I am sure, 
be made without making the smaller burden more onerous than the 
larger by reason of the disabilities and limitations which the process 
of reduction puts upon both capital and labor. The free list can 
very safely be extended by placing thereon articles that do not offer 
injurious competition to such domestic products as our home labor 
can supply. The removal of the internal tax upon tobacco would 
relieve an important agricultural product from a burden which was 
imposed only because our revenue from customs duties was insuffi- 
cient for the public needs. If safe provision against fraud can be 
devised, the removal of the tax upon spirits used in the arts and 
in manufactures would also offer an unobjectionable method of 
reducing the surplus. 

A table presented by the Secretary of the Treasury, showing the 
amount of money of all kinds in circulation each year from 1878 
to the present time, is of interest. It appears that the amount of 
national-bank notes in circulation has decreased during that period 
$114,109,729, of which $37,799,229 is chargeable to the last year. 
The withdrawal of bank circulation will necessarily continue under 
existing conditions. It is probable that the adoption of the sugges- 
tions made by the Comptroller of the Currency, viz, that the mini- 
mum deposit of bonds for the establishment of banks be reduced, 
and that an issue of notes to the par value of the bonds be allowed, 
would help to maintain the bank circulation. But, while this with- 
drawal of bank notes has been going on, there has been a large 
increase in the amount of gold and silver coin in circulation and in 
the issues of gold and silver certificates. 

The total amount of money of all kinds in circulation on MarcJ: 
I, 1878, was $805,793,807, while on October i, 1889, the total was 
$1,405,018,000. There was an increa.se of $293,417,552 in gold 
coin, of $57,554, 100 in standard silver dollars, of $7^,311,249 in gold 
certificates, of $276,619,715 in silver certificates, and of $14,073,787 
in United States notes, making a total of 5713,976,403. There was 
during the same period a decrea.se of $114,109,729 in bank circula- 
tion, and of $642,481 in subsidian- silver. The net increase was 
$599,224,193. The circulation Per capita has increased about $5 
during the time covered by the table referred to. 

The total coinage of silver dollars was, on November i, 1889, 
$343,638,001, of which 12^3,539,521 were in the Treasury vaults 
and $60,098,480 were in circulation. Of the amount in the vaults. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 45 

$277,319,944 were represented by outstaudino; silver certificates, 
lea\-ing $6,219,577 not in circulation and not represented by certifi- 
cates. 

The law requiring the purchase, by the Treasury, of $2,000,000 
worth of silver bullion each month, to be coined into silver dollars 
of 412^2 grains, has been observed by the Department ; but neither 
the present Secretary nor any of his predecessors has deemed it safe 
to exercise the discretion given by law to increase the nionthh- 
purchases to $4,000,000. When the law was enacted (Fel)ruar>- 
28, 1878) the price of silver in the market was $i.20i*t per ounce, 
making the bullion value of the dollar 93 cents. .Since that time 
the price has fallen as low as 91.2 cents per ounce, reducing the 
bullion value of the dollar to 70.6 cents. Within the last few months 
the market price has somewhat advanced, and on the ist day of 
November last the bullion value of the silver dollar was 72 cents. 

The evil anticipations which have accompanied the coinage and 
use of the silver dollar have not been realized. As a coin it has not 
had general use, and the public Treasury has been compelled to 
store it. But this is manifestly owing to the fact that its paper rep- 
resentative is more convenient. The general acceptance and use of 
the silver certificate show that silver has not been otherwi.se di.scred- 
ited. Some favorable conditions have contributed to maintain this 
practical equality, in their commercial use, between the gold and 
silver dollars. But some of these are trade conditions that statutory 
enactments do not control and of the continuance of which we can 
not be certain. 

I think it is clear that if we should make the coinage of silver at 
the present ratio free, we must expect that the difference in the 
bullion values of the gold and silver dollars will be taken account 
of in commercial transactions, and I fear the same result would 
follow any considerable increase of the present rate of coinage. 
Such a result would be discreditable to our financial management 
and disastrous to all business interests. We should not tread the 
dangerous edge of such a peril. x\nd, indeed, nothing more 
harmful could happen to the silver interests. Any safe legislation 
upon this subject must secure the equality of the two coins in their 
commercial uses. 

I have always been an advocate of the use of silver in our currency. 
We are large producers of that metal, and should not discredit it. 
To the plan which will be presented by the Secretary of the Treasury 
for the issuance of notes or certificates upon the deposit of silver 
bullion at its market value, I have been able to give onl>- a hasty 
examination, owing to the jaress of other matters and to the fact 



46 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

that it has been so recently fornmlated. The details of snch a law 
require careful consideration, but the general plan stiggested by him 
seems to satisfy the purpose — to continue the use of silver in 
connection with our currency, and at the same time to obviate the 
danger of which I have spoken. At a later day I may communi- 
cate further with Congress upon this subject. 

The enforcement of the Chinese exclusion act has been found to 
be very difficult on the northwestern frontier. Chinamen, landing 
at Victoria, find it easy to pass our border, owing to the impossibility, 
with the force at the command of the customs officers, of guarding 
so long an inland line. The Secretary of the Treasury has author- 
ized the emplo)nient of additional officers who will be assigned to 
this duty, and every effort will be made to enforce the law. The 
Dominion exacts a head tax of $50 for each Chinaman landed, and 
when these persons, in fraud of our law, cross into our territory and 
are apprehended, our officers do not know what to do with them, 
as the Dominion authorities will not suffer them to be sent back 
without a .second payment of the tax. An effort will be made to 
reach an understanding that will remove this difficulty. 

The proclamation required by section 3 of the act of March 2, 
1889, relating to the killing of seals and other fur-bearing animals, 
was issued by me on the 21st day of March, and a revenue vessel 
was dispatched to enforce the laws and protect the interests of the 
United States. The establishment of a refuge station at Point 
Barrow, as directed by Congress, was successfully accomplished. 

Judged by modern standards, we are practically without coast 
defenses. Many of the structures we have would enhance rather 
than diminish the perils of their garrisons if subjected to the fire of 
imjjroved guns ; and very few are so located as to give full effect to 
the greater range of such guns as we are now making for coast- 
defense uses. This general subject has had consideration in Congress 
for some years, and the appropriation for the construction of large 
rifled guns, made one year ago, was, I am sure, the expression of a 
purpose to provide suitable works in which these guns might be 
mounted. An appropriation now made for that purpose would not 
advance the completion of the works beyond our ability to supply 
them with fairly effective guns. 

The security of our coast cities against foreign attacks should not 
rest altogether in the friendly disposition of other nations. There 
should be a second line wholly in our own keeping. I very urgently 
recommend an appropriation at this session for the construction of 
such works in our most exposed harbors. 

I approve the suggestion of the Secretary of War that provision 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaiuiu Ifarrisoii. 47 

be made for encainpino^ companies of the National ( Hiarrl in onr 
coast works for a specified time each year, and for their traininj^ in 
the nse of heavy gnns. His sngjjestion that an increase of the 
artillery force of the Army is desirable is also in this connection 
commended to the consideration of Contjress. 

The improvement of onr important ri\-ers and harbors shonld be 
promoted by the necessary approj^riations. Care slionld be taken 
that the Government is not committed to the prosecntion of works 
not of pnblic and (general advanta,y;e, and that the relative nsefnl- 
ness of works of that class is not overlooked. vSo far as this work 
can ever be said to be completed, I do not doubt that the end would 
be sooner and more economicalh- reached if fewer separate works 
were undertaken at the same time, and those selected for their 
greater general interest were more rapidh- pushed to completion. 
A work once considerably begun should not be subjected to the 
risks and deterioration which interrupted or insufficient appropria- 
tions necessarily occasion. 

The assault made b\- David S. Terry upon the person of Justice 
Field, of the Supreme Court of the United vStates, at Lathrop, Cal., 
in August last, and the killing of the assailant by a de]mty Ignited 
States marshal who had been deputed to accompany Justice Field 
and to protect him from anticipated violence at the hands of Terry, 
in connection with the legal proceedings which have followed, 
suggest questions which, in my judgment, are wortln- of the attention 
of Congress. 

I recommend that more definite provision be made by law, not 
only for the protection of Federal officers, but for a full trial of such 
cases in the United States courts. In recommending such legis- 
lation I do not at all in:peach either the general adecpiac\' of the 
provision made by the State laws for the protection of all citizens or 
the general good disposition of those charged with the execution of 
such laws to give protection to the officers of the United States. 
The duty of protecting its officers, as such, and of punishing those 
who assault them on account of their official acts, should not be 
devolved exjDressly or by acquiescence upon the local authorities. 

Events, which have been brought to my attention happening in 
other parts of the country, have also suggested the propriety of 
extending, b\- legislation, fuller protection to those who may be 
called as witnesses in the courts of the United States. The law 
compels those who are supposed to ha\e knowledge of public offenses 
to attend upon our courts and grand juries and to give evidence. 
There is a manifest resulting duty that these witnesses shall be 
protected from injur\- on account of their testimony. The in\'esti- 



48 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

gations of criminal offenses are often rendered futile, and the 
punislinient of crime impossible, by the intimidation of witnesses. 

The necessity of providing some more speedy method for disposing 
of the cases which now come for final adjndication to the Snpreme 
Conrt becomes every year more apparent and urgent. The plan of 
providing some intermediate courts, having final appellate jnri.sdic- 
tion of certain classes of questions and cases, has, I think, received 
a more general approval from the bench and bar of the country than 
any other. Without attempting to discuss details, I recommend 
that provision be made for the establishment of such courts. 

The salaries of the judges of the district courts in mau\' of the 
districts are, in my judgment, inadequate. I recommend that all 
such salaries now below five thousand dollars per annum be increased 
to that amount. It it quite true that the amount of labor performed 
by these jtidges is very unequal, but as they can not properly engage 
in other pursuits to supplement their incomes, the salary should be 
in all such cases as to provide an independent and comfortable 
support. 

Earnest attention should Ix" given In' Congress to a consideration 
of the question how far the restraint of those combinations of 
capital commonh- called "trusts " is matter of Federal jurisdiction. 
When organized, as they often are, to crush out all healthy com- 
petition and to monopolize the production or .sale of an article of 
commerce and general necessity, they are dangerous conspiracies 
against the public good, and should be made the subject of prohib- 
itory and even penal legislation. 

The subject of an international cojiyright has been frequently 
commended to the attention of Congress by my predeces.sors. The 
enactment of such a law would be eminently wise and just. 

Our naturalization laws should be so revised as to make the inquiry 
into the moral character and good disposition towards our Govern- 
ment of the persons applying for citizenship more thorough. This 
can only be done by taking fuller control of the examination, by 
fixing the times for hearing such applications, and by requiring the 
presence of .some one who shall represent the Government in the 
inquiry. Those who are the avowed enemies of social order, or 
who come to our shores to swell the injurious influence and to 
extend the evil practices of any association that defies our laws, 
should not only be denied citizenship but a domicile. 

The enactment of a national bankrupt law of a character to be a 
permanent part of our general legislation is desirable. It should be 
simple in its methods and inexpensive in its administration. 

The report of the Postmaster-General not only exhibits the oper- 



Public Papers and ^Iddrcsscs of Boijaniirt I/anisoii. 49 

ations of the Department for the last fiscal year, but contains many 
valuable suggestions for the improvement and extension of the 
service, which are commended to your attention. No other branch 
of the Government has so close a contact with the dail\- life of the 
people. Almost every one uses the service it offers, and every hour 
gained in the transmission of the great commercial mails has an 
actual and possible value that only those engaged in trade can 
understand. 

The saving of o)ie day in the transmission of the mails between 
New York and San l*rancisco, which has recently been accomplished, 
is an incident worthy of mention. 

The plan suggested of a supervision of the post-offices in separate 
districts that shall involve instruction and suggestion and a rating 
of the efficiency of the postmasters would, I have no doubt, greatly 
improve the service. 

A pressing necessity exists for the erection of a building for the 
joint use of the Department and of the city post-office. The Depart- 
ment was partially relieved by renting outside quarters for a part of 
its force, but it is again overcrowded. The building used b>- the 
city office never was fit for the purpo.se, and is now inadequate and 
unwholesome. 

The unsatisfactory condition of the law relating to the transmis- 
sion through the mails of lottery advertisements and remittances is 
clearly stated by the Postmaster-General, and his suggestion as to 
amendments should have your favorable consideration. 

The report of the Secretary of the Navy shows a reorganization 
of the bureaus of the Department that will, I do not doubt, promote 
the efficiency of each. 

In general, satisfactory progress has been made in the construction 
of the new ships of war authorized by Congress. The first vessel of 
the new Navy, the Do/phin, was subjected to very severe trial tests 
and to very much adverse criticism. Rut it is gratifying to be able 
to state that a crui.se around the world, from which she has recently 
returned, has demonstrated that she is a first-class vessel of her rate. 

The report of the Secretary shows that while the effective force 
of the Navy is rapidly increasing, by reason of the improved build 
and armament of the new ships, the number of our ships fit for sea 
dutv grows very slowly. We had, on the 4th of March last, thirty- 
seven .serviceable .ships, and though four have since been added to 
the list, the total has not been increased, because in the mean time 
four have been lost or condemned. Twenty-six additional ves.seLs 
have been authorized and appropriated for, but it is probable that 
when tiiey are completed our list will only be increased to forty-two, 
15151 1 



50 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

a gain of five. The old wooden ships are disappearing ahnost as 
fast as the new vessels are added. These facts carry their own 
argnment. One of the new ships may, in fighting strength, be 
equal to two of the old, but it can not do the cruising duty of two. 
It is important, therefore, that we should have a more rapid increase 
in the number of serviceable .ships. I concur in the recommenda- 
tion of the Secretary that the construction of eight armored ships, 
three gun-boats, and five torpedo-boats be authorized. 

An appalling calamity befell three of our naval vessels on duty at 
the Samoan Islands, in the harbor of Apia, in March last, involving 
the loss of four officers and forty-seven seamen, of two vessels, the 
Trenton and the I'andalia^ and the disabling of a third, the Nipsic. 
Three vessels of the German Navy, also in the harbor, shared with 
our ships the force of the hurricane and suffered even more heavily. 
While mourning the brave officers and men who died, facing with 
high re.solve perils greater than those of battle, it is most gratifying 
to state that the credit of the American Navy for seamanship, cour- 
age, and generosity was magnificently sustained in the storm-beaten 
harbor of Apia. 

The report of the Secretary of the Interior exhibits the transac- 
tions of the Government with the Indian tribes. Substantial prog- 
ress has been made in the education of the children of school age 
and in the allotment of lands to adult Indians. It is to be regretted 
that the policy of breaking up the tribal relation and of dealing with 
the Indian as an individual did not appear earlier in our legisla- 
tion, lyarge reservations, held in common, and the maintenance of 
the authority of the chiefs and head-men have deprived the individ- 
ual of every incentive to the exercise of thrift, and the annuity 
has contributed an affirmative impulse towards a state of confirmed 
pauperism. 

Our treaty stipulations should be observed with fidelity, and our 
legislation should be highly considerate of the best interests of an 
ignorant and helpless people. The reservations are now generally 
surrounded by white settlements. We can no longer pu.sh the 
Indian back into the wilderness, and it remains only, by every suit- 
able agency, to push him upward into the estate of a self-supporting 
and responsible citizen. For the adult, the first step is to locate 
him upon a farm, and for the child, to place him in a school. 

School attendance should be promoted by every moral agency, 
and those failing, should be compelled. The national schools for 
Indians have been very successful, and should be multiplied, and, 
as far as possible, .should be so organized and conducted as to facili- 
tate the transfer of the schools to the States or Territories in which 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 51 

they are located, wlieu tlie Indians in a neighborhood have accepted 
citizenship, and liave Ijeconie otiierwise fitted for snch a transfer. 
This condition of tilings will be attained slowly, but it will be 
hastened by keeping it in mind. And in the mean time that 
cooperation between the Government and the mission schools, 
which has wrought much good, should be cordially and impartially 
maintained. 

The last Congress enacted two distinct laws relating to negotia- 
tions with the Sioux Indians of Dakota for a relinquishment of a 
portion of their lands to the United States and for dividing the 
remainder into separate reservations. Both were approved on the 
same day — March 2. The one submitted to the Indians a specific 
proposition; the other (section 3 of the Indian appropriation act) 
authorized the President to appoint three commissioners to nego- 
tiate with these Indians for the accomplishment of the same general 
purpose, and required that any agreements made should be sub- 
initted to Congress for ratification. 

On the i6th day of April last I appointed Hon. Charles Foster, of 
Ohio, Hon. William Warner, of Missouri, and Major-General George 
Crook, of the U. S. Army, commissioners under the last-named law. 
They were, however, authorized and directed, first, to submit to the 
Indians the definite proposition made to them by the act first men- 
tioned, and only in the event of a ftilure to secure the assent of the 
requisite number to that proposition to open negotiations for modi- 
fied terms under the other act. The work of the Commission was 
prolonged and arduous, btit the assent of the requisite number 
was, it is understood, finally obtained to the proposition made b)- 
Congress, though the report of the Commission has not yet been 
submitted. In view of these facts, I shall not, as at present advised, 
deem it necessary to submit the agreement to Congre.ss for ratifi- 
cation, but it will in due course be submitted for information. 
This agreement releases to the United States about 9,000,000 acres 
of land. 

The Commission provided for by section 14 of the Indian appro- 
priation bill to negotiate with the Cherokee Indians and all other 
Indians owning or claiming lands h'ing west of the ninety-sixth 
degree of longitude, for the cession to the United States of all such 
lands, was constituted by the appointment of Hon. Lucius Fairchild, 
of Wisconsin, Hon. John F. Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, and Hon. 
Alfred M. Wilson, of Arkansas, and organized on June 29 last. 
Their first conference with the representatives of the Cherokees 
was held at Tallequah, July 29, with no definite results. Gen. 
John F. Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, was prevented by ill-health 



52 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

from taking part in the conference. His death, which occnrred 
recently, is jnstly and generally lamented by a people he had served 
with conspicuous gallantry in war and with great fidelity in peace. 
The vacancy thus created was filled by the appointment of Hon. 
Warren G. Sayre, of Indiana. 

A second conference between the Commission and the Cherokees 
was begun November 6, but no results have as yet been obtained, 
nor is it believed that a conclusion can be immediately expected. 
The cattle syndicate now occupying the lands for grazing purposes 
is clearly one of the agencies responsible for the obstruction of our 
negotiations with the Cherokees. The large body of agricultural 
lands constituting what is known as the "Cherokee Outlet" ought 
not to be, and indeed can not long be, held for grazing, and for the 
advantage of a few against the public interests and the best advan- 
tage of the Indians themselves. The United States has now under 
the treaties certain rights in these lands. These will not be used 
oppressively, but it can not be allowed that those who by sufferance 
occupy these lands shall interpose to defeat the wise and beneficent 
purposes of the Government. I can not but believe that the advan- 
tageous character of the offer made by the United States to the 
Cherokee Nation, for a full release of these lands, as compared with 
other suggestions now made to them, will yet obtain for it a favor- 
able consideration. 

Under the agreement made between the United States and the 
Muscogee (or Creek) Nation of Indians on the igtli day of January, 
1889, an absolute title was secured by the U ited States to about 
3,500,000 acres of land. Section 12 of the general Indian appro- 
priation act, approved March 2, 18S9, made provision for the pur- 
chase by the United States from the Seminole tribe of a certain 
portion of their lands. The delegates of the Seminole Nation 
having first duly evidenced to me their power to act in that behalf, 
delivered a proper release and conveyance to the United States of 
all the lands mentioned in the act, which was accepted by me and 
certified to be in compliance with the statute. 

By the terms of both the acts referred to, all the lands so purchased 
were declared to be a part of the public domain, and open to settle- 
ment under the homestead law. But of the lands embraced in these 
purchases, being in the aggregate about 5,500,000 acres, 3,500,000 
acres had already, under the terms of the treaty of 1896 been acquired 
by the United States for the purpose of settling other Indian tribes 
thereon, and had been appropriated to that purpose. The land 
remaining and available for settlement consisted of 1,887,796 acre.'^, 
surrounded on all sides by lands in the occupancy of Indian tribes. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijainiii Harrison. 53 

Congress had provided 110 civil government for tlie people who were 
to be invited by my proclamation to settle upon these lands, except 
as the new court, which had been established at Muscogee, or the 
United States courts in some of the adjoining States, had power to 
enforce the general laws of the United States. 

In this condition of things I was quite reluctant to open the 
lands to settlement. But in view of the fact that several thousand 
persons, many of them with their families, had gathered upon the 
borders of the Indian Territory, with a view to securing homesteads 
on the ceded lands, and that delay would involve them in much loss 
and suffering, I did, on the 23d day of March last, issue a proclama- 
tion declaring that the lands therein described would be open to 
.settlement under the provi.sions of the law on the 22d day of April 
following, at 12 o'clock noon. Two land districts had been estab- 
lished and the offices were open for the transaction of business when 
the appointed time arrived. 

It is much to the credit of the settlers that they very generally 
observed the limitation as to the time when they might enter the 
Territory. Care will be taken that those who entered in violation 
of the law do not secure the advantage they unfairly sought. There 
was a good deal of apprehension that the strife for locations would 
result in nmch violence and bloodshed, but happily these anticipa- 
tions were not realized. It is estimated that there are now in the 
Territory about sixty thousand people; and several considerable^ 
towns have sprung up, for which temporary municipal governments 
have been organized. Guthrie is said to have now a population of 
almost 8,000. Eleven schools and nine churches have been estab- 
lished, and three daily and five weekly newspapers are published in 
this cit)-, whose charter and ordinances have onh' the sanction of 
the voluutar\- acquiescence of the j^eople from day to day. 

Oklahoma City has a population of about five thousand, and is 
proportionately as well provided as Guthrie with churches, schools, 
and newspapers. Other towns and villages having populations of 
from one hundred to a thousand are scattered over the Territory. 

In order to secure the peace of this new community, in the absence 
of civil government, I directed General Merritt, commanding the 
Department of the Missouri, to act in conjunction with the marshals 
of the United States to preserve the peace, and upon their requisi- 
tion to use the troops to aid them in executing warrants and in 
quieting any riots or breaches of the peace that might occur. He 
was further directed to use his influence to promote good order and 
to avoid any conflicts between or with the settlers. Relieving that 
the introduction and sale of liquors, where no legal restraints or 



54 Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaiiiin Harrison. 

regulations existed, would endanger the public peace, and in view 
of the fact that such liquors must first be introduced into the Indian 
reservations before reaching the white settlements, I further directed 
the general commanding to enforce the laws rehting to the intro- 
duction of ardent spirits into the Indian country. 

The presence of the troops has given a sense of security to the 
well-disposed citizens, and has tended to restrain the lawless. In 
one instance the officer in immediate command of the troops went 
further than I deemed justifiable in sirpporting the de facto muni- 
cipal government of Guthrie, and he was j-o informed and directed 
to limit the interference of the military to the support of the mar- 
shals on the lines indicated in the original order. I very urgently 
recommend that Congress at once provide a Territorial government 
for these people. Serious questions, which may at any time lead to 
violent outbreaks, are awaiting the institution of courts for their 
peaceful adjustment. The American genius for self-government 
has been well illustrated in Oklahoma, but it is neither safe nor 
wise to leave these people longer to the expedients which have tem- 
porarily served them. 

Provision should be made for the acquisition of title to town lots 
in the towns now established in Alaska, for locating town sites and 
for the establi.shment of municipal governments. Only the mining 
laws have been extended to that Territory, and no other form of 
title to lands can now be obtained. The general land laws were 
framed with reference to the disposition of agricultural lands, and 
it is doubtful if their operation in Alaska would be beneficial. 

We have fortunately not extended to Alaska the mistaken policy 
of establishing reservations for the Indian tribes, and can deal with 
them from the beginning as individuals with, I am sure, better 
results. But any disposition of the public lands and any regula- 
tions relating to timber and to tlie fisheries should ha\-e a kindly 
regard to their interests. Having no power to levy taxes, the peo- 
ple of Ala.ska are wholly dependent upon the general Government, 
to whose revenues the seal fisheries make a large annual contribu- 
tion. An appropriation for education should neither be overlooked 
nor stinted. 

The smallness of the population and the great distances between 
the settlements offer serious obstacles to the establishment of the 
usual Territorial form of government. Perhaps the organization 
of several subdistricts, with a small municipal council of limited 
powers for each, would be safe and u.seful. 

Attention is called in this connection to the suggestions of the 
Secretary of the Treasurv relating to the establishment of another 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaniiii Ifarrisivi. 55 

port of entry in Alaska, and of other needed cnstonis facilities and 
reo;nlations. 

In the administration of the land laws the polic)- of facilitating, in 
every proper way, the adjustment of the honest claims of individual 
settlers upon the public lands has been pursued. The number of 
pending cases had, during the preceding administration, been greatly 
increased under the operation of orders for a time suspending final 
action in a large part of the cases originating in the West and 
Northwest, and b)' the subsequent use of unusual methods of exam- 
ination. Only those who are familiar with tl-.e conditions under 
which our agricultural lands have been settled can appreciate the 
serious and often fatal consequences to the settler of a policy tliat 
puts his title under suspicion, or delays the issuance of his patent. 
While care is taken to prevent and to expose fraud, it should not 
be imputed without reason. 

The manifest purpose of the homestead and preemption laws was 
to promote the settlement of the public domain by persons having 
a bona-fide intent to make a home upon the selected lands. Where 
this intent is well established and the requirements of the law 
have been substantially complied with, the claimant is entitled to 
a prompt and friendly consideration of his case. Rut where there is 
reason to believe that the claimant is the mere agent of another who 
is seeking to evade a law intended to promote small holdings and 
to secure by fraudulent methods large tracts of timber and other 
lands, both principal and agent should not only be thwarted in their 
fraudulent purpose, but should be made to feel the full penalties of 
our criminal statutes. The laws should be so administered as not 
to confound these two classes, and to visit penalties only upon the 
latter. 

The unsettled state of the titles to large bodies of lands in the 
Territories of New Mexico and Arizona has greatly retarded the 
development of those Territories. Provision should be made by 
law for the prompt trial and final adjustment, before a judicial 
tribunal or commission, of all claims based upon Mexican grants. 
It is not just to an intelligent and enterprising people that their 
peace should be disturbed and their prosperity retarded by these 
old contentions. I express the hope that differences of opinion as 
to methods may yield to the urgency of the case. 

The law now provides a pension for every soldier and sailor who 
was mustered into the service of the United States during the civil 
war and is now suffering from wounds or disease having an origin 
in the service and in the line of dutv. Two of the three necessary 
facts, viz, muster and disability, are usually susceptible of easy 



56 Public Papers and Addresses of Beti/an/iii Harrison. 

proof; but the third, origin in the service, is often difficult, and 
many deserving cases impossible to establish. That very many of 
those who endured the hardships of our most bloody and arduous 
campaigns are now disabled from diseases that 'had a real but not 
traceable origin in the service I do not doubt. Besides the.se there 
is another class eomposed of men, many of whom served an enlist- 
ment of three full j'ears, and of reenlisted veterans who added a 
fourth year of service, who escaped the casualties of battle and the 
assaults of disease, who were always ready for any detail, who were 
in every battle line of their command, and were mustered out in 
sound health, and have, since the close of the war, while fighting 
with the same indomitable and independent spirit the contests of 
civil life, been overcome by disease or casualty. 

I am not unaware that the pension-roll already involves a very 
large annual expenditure, neither am I deterred by that fact from 
recommending that Congress grant a pension to such honorably 
discharged soldiers and sailors of the civil war as having rendered 
substantial service during the war are now dependent upon their own 
labor for a maintenance, and by disease or casualty are incapacitated 
from earning it. Many of thenien who would be included in this 
form of relief are now dependent upon public aid, and it does not, 
in my judgment, consist with the national honor that they shall 
continue to subsist upon the local relief given indiscriminately to 
paupers instead of upon the special and generous provision of the 
nation they .served so gallantly and unselfishly. Our people will, I 
am sure, very generally approve such legislation. And I am equall\- 
sure that the survivors of the Union Army and Navy will feel a 
grateful sense of relief when this worthy and suffering class of their 
comrades is fairly cared for. 

There are some manifest inequalities in the existing law that 
should be remedied. To some of these the Secretary of the Interior 
has called attention. 

It is gratifving to be able to state that by the adoption of new 
and better methods in the War Department the calls of the Pension 
Office for information as to the military and hospital records of 
pension claimants are now promptly answered, and the injurious and 
vexatious delays that have heretofore occurred are entirely avoided. 
This will greath- facilitate the adjustment of all pending claims. 

The advent of four new States, South Dakota, North Dakota, 
Montana and Washington, into the Union under the Constitution, 
in the same month, and the admission of their duh' chosen repre- 
sentatives to our National Congress at the same session, is an event 
as unexampled as it is interesting. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjaniiu Harrison. 57 

The certification of the votes cast and of the constitutions adopted 
in eacli of the .States was filed with nie as required bv the eiglith 
section of tlie act of February 22, i.S.Sg, by the governors of said 
Territories respectively. Having, after a careful examination, found 
that the several constitutions and governments were republican in 
form and not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States, 
that all the provisions of the act of Congress had been complied 
with, and that a majority of the votes cast in each of said proposed 
States was in favor of the adoption of the constitution submitted 
therein, I did so declare by a separate proclamation as to each ; as 
to North Dakota and South Dakota on Saturday, November 2; as to 
Montana on Friday, November 8, and as to Washington on Monday, 
November 11. 

Each of these States has within its resources the development of 
which will employ the energies of, and yield a comfortable subsist- 
ence to, a great population. The smallest of these new States, 
Washington, stands twelftli, and the largest, Montana, third, among 
the forty-two in area. The people of these States are already well 
trained, intelligent, and patriotic American citizens, having com- 
mon interests and sympathies with those of the older States, and a 
common purpose to defend the integrity and uphold the honor of 
the nation. 

The attention of the Interstate Commerce Commission has been 
called to the urgent need of Congressional legislation for the better 
protection of the lives and limbs of those engaged in operating the 
great interstate freight lines of the country, and especially of the 
yard-men and brakemen. K petition, signed by nearly 10,000 
railway brakeman was presented to the Commission, asking that 
steps might be taken to bring about the use of automatic brakes and 
couplers on freight cars. 

At a meeting of State railroad commissioners and their accredited 
representatives, held at Washington in March last, upon the invi- 
tation of the Interstate Commerce Commission, a resolution was 
unanimously adopted urging the Commission "to consider what 
can be done to prevent the loss of life and limb in coupling and 
uncoupling freight cars, and in handling the brakes of such cars." 
During the year ending June 30, 18S8, over 2,000 railroad employes 
were killed in service and more than 20,000 injured. It is compe- 
tent, I think, for Congress to require uniformity in the construction 
of cars used in interstate commerce, and the use of improved safety 
appliances upon such trains. Time will be necessary to make the 
needed changes, but an earnest and intelligent beginning .should be 
made at once. It is a reproach to our civilization that any class of 



58 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

American workmen should, in tlie pursuit of a necessary and useful 
vocation, be subjected to a peril of life and limb as great as that of 
a soldier in time of war. 

The creation of an executive department, to be known as the 
Department of Agriculture, by the act of February 9 last, was a 
wise and timely response to a request which had long been respect- 
fully urged by the farmers of the country. But much remains to 
be done to perfect the organization of the Department so that it 
may fairly realize the expectations which its creation excited. In 
this connection attention is called to the suggestions contained in 
the report of the Secretary, which is herewith submitted. The 
need of a law officer for the Department, such as is provided for the 
other Executive Departments, is manifest. The failure of the last 
Congress to make the usual provision for the publication of the 
annual report should be promptly remedied. The public interest 
in the report and its value to the farming community I am sure will 
not be diminished under the new organization of the Department. 

I recommend that the Weather Service be separated from the 
War Department and established as a Bureau in the Department of 
Agriculture. This will involve an entire reorganization both of 
the Weather Bureau and of the Signal Corps, making of the first a 
purely civil organization and of the other a purely military staff 
corps. The report of the Chief Signal Officer shows that the work 
of the corps on its military side has been deteriorating. 

The interests of the people of the District of Columbia should 
not be lost sight of in the pressure for consideration of measures 
affecting the whole country. Having no legislature of its own, 
either municipal or general, its people must look to Congress for 
the regulation of all those concerns that, in the States, are the 
subject of local control. Our whole people have an interest that 
the National Capital should be made attractive and beautiful, and 
above all that its repute for social order should be well maintained. 
The laws regulating the sale of intoxicating drinks in the District 
should be revised with a view to bringing the traffic under stringent 
limitations and control. 

In execution of the power conferred upon me by the act making 
appropriations for the expenses of the District of Columbia for the 
year ending June 30, 1890, I did, on the 17th day of August last, 
appoint Rudolph Hering, of New York, Samuel M. Gray, of Rhode 
Island, and Frederick P. Stearns, of Massachusetts, three eminent 
sanitary engineers, to examine and report upon the system of 
sewerage existing in the District of Columbia. Their report, which 
is not yet completed, will be in due course submitted to Congress. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beii/aiiiin Harrison. 59 

The report of the Commissioners of the District is herewith trans- 
mitted, and the attention of Congress is called to the suggestions 
contained therein. 

The proposition to observe the four hundredth anniversary of the 
discovery of America liy the opening of a world's fair or exposition 
in some one of our great cities will be presented for the consideration 
of Congress. The value and interest of such an exposition may well 
claim the promotion of the General Government. 

On the 4th of I\Iarch last the Civil Service Commission had but 
a single member. The vacancies were filled on the 7th da\' of May, 
and since then the Commissioners have been industriously, though 
with an inadequate force, engaged in executing the law. They 
were assured by me that a cordial support would be given them 
in the faithful and impartial enforcement of the statute and of the 
rules and regulations adopted in aid of it. 

Heretofore the book of eligibles has been closed to every one, 
except as certification were made upon the requisition of the 
appointing officers. This secrecy was the source of much suspicion, 
and of many charges of favoritism in the administration of the law. 
What is secret is always suspected ; what is open can be judged. 
The Commission, with the full approval of all its members, has 
now opened the list of eligibles to the public. The eligible lists 
for the classified post-offices and custom-ho\ises are now publich' 
posted in the respective offices, as are also the certifications for 
appointments. The purpose of the civil-service law was absolutely 
to exclude any other consideration in connection with appointments 
under it than that of merit as tested by the examinations. The 
business proceeds upon the theory that both the examining boards 
and the appointing-officers are absolutely ignorant as to the political 
views and associations of all persons on the civil-service lists. It is 
not too much to say, however, that some recent Congressional 
investigations have somewhat shaken public confidence in the 
impartiality of the selections for appointment. 

The reform of the civil service will make no safe or satisfactory 
advance until the present law and its equal administration are well 
established in the confidence of the people. It will be my pleasure, 
as it is my duty, to see that the law is executed with firnmess and 
imi^artiality. If some of its provisions have l)een fraudulently evaded 
by appointing-officers, our resentment should not suggest the repeal 
of the law, but reform in its administration. We should have one 
view of the matter, and hold it with a .sincerity that is not affected 
by the ctjusideration that the part\- to which we belong is for the 
time in power. 



6o Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

My predecessor, on the 4tli day of January, 1889, by an executive 
order to take effect March 15, brought the Railway Mail Service 
under the operation of the civil-service law. Provision was made 
that the order should take effect sooner in any State where an eligible 
list was sooner obtained. On the nth day of March, Mr. Lyman, 
then the only member of the Commission, reported to me in writing 
that it would not be possible to have the list of eligibles ready before 
May I, and requested that the taking effect of the order be postponed 
until that time, which was done, subject to the same provision 
contained in the original order as to States in which an eligible 
list was sooner obtained. 

As a result of the revision of the rules, of the new cla.ssification, 
and of the inclusion of the Railway Mail Service, the work of the 
Commission has been greatly increased, and the present clerical 
force is found to be inadequate. I recommend that the additional 
clerks asked by the Commi,ssion be appropriated for. 

The duty of appointment is devolved by the Constitution or by 
the law, and the appointing officers are properly held to a high 
responsibility in its exercise. The growth of the country and the 
consequent increase of the civil list have magnified this function 
of the Executive disproportionally. It can not be denied, however, 
that the labor connected with this necessary work is increased, often 
to the point of actual distress, by the sudden and excessive demands 
that are made upon an incoming administration for removals 
and appointments. But, on the other hand, it is not true that 
incumbency is a conclusive argument for a continuance in office. 
Impartiality, moderation, fidelity to public duty, and a good 
attainment in the discharge of it must be added before the argu- 
ment is complete. When those holding administrative offices so 
conduct theuLselves as to convince just political opponents that no 
party consideration or bias affects in any way the discharge of their 
public duties, we can more easily stay the demand for removals. 

I am satisfied that both in and out of the classified service great 
benefit would accrue from the adoption of some system by which 
the officer would receive the distinction and benefit that, in all 
private employments, comes from exceptional faithfulness and 
efficiency in the performance of duty. 

I have suggested to the heads of the executive departments that 
they consider whether a record might not be kept in each bureau of 
all those elements that are covered by the terms "faithfulness" and 
"efficiency," and a rating made showing the relative merits of the 
clerks of each class, this rating to be regarded as a test of merit in 
making promotions. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Boijaniiii ffarrisoii. 6i 

I have also sui^j^ested to the Postmaster-General that he adopt 
some plan by which he can, upon the basis of the reports to the 
Department and of freqnent inspections, indicate the relative merit 
of postmasters of each class. They will be appropriately indicated 
in the official re.a^ister and in the report of the Department. That 
a o;reat .stimnlns wonld thus be given to the whole .service I do not 
doubt, and sucli a record would be the best defense against incon- 
siderate removals from office. 

The interest of the General Government in the education of the 
people found an early expression, not only in the thoughtful and 
sometimes warning utterances of our ablest statesmen, but in liberal 
appropriations from the common resources for the support of educa- 
tion in the new States. No one will deny that it is of the gravest 
national concern that those who hold the ultimate control of all 
public affairs should have the necessary intelligence wisely to direct 
and determine them. National aid to education has heretofore taken 
the form of land grants, and in that form the constitutional power 
of Congress to promote the education of the people is not seriously 
questioned. I do not think it can be successfully questioned when 
the form is changed to that of a direct grant of money from the 
public treasury. 

Such aid should be, as it always has been, suggested by some 
exceptional conditions. The sudden emancipation of the slaves of 
the South, the bestowal of the suffi'age, which soon followed, and 
the impairment of the ability of the States where these new citizens 
were chiefly found to adequately provide educational facilities, pre- 
sented not only exceptional but unexampled conditions. That the 
situation has been much ameliorated there is no doubt. The ability 
and interest of the States have happily increased. 

But a great work remains to be done, and I think the General 
Government should lend its aid. As the suggestion of a national 
grant in aid of education grows chiefly out of the condition and 
needs of the emancipated slave and his descendants, the relief 
should, as far as possible, while necessarily proceeding upon some 
general lines, be applied to the need that suggested it. It is essen- 
tial, if much good is to be accomplished, that the s}-mpatliy and 
active interest of the people of the vStates should be enlisted, and 
that the methods adopted should be such as to stimulate and not to 
supplant local taxation for school purposes. 

As one Congress can not bind a succeeding one in such a case, and 
as the efifort must, in some degree, be experimental, I reconnnend 
that any appropriation made for this purpose be so limited in annual 
amount and as to the time over which it is to extend as will, on 



62 Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijainiii Harrison. 

the one hand, give the local school anthorities opportunit)- to make 
the best nse of the first year's allowance, and on the other deliver 
them from the temptation to undnly postpone the assumption of the 
whole burden themselves. 

The colored people did not intrude themselves upon us; they 
were brought here in chains and held in the communities where 
they are now chiefly found, by a cruel slave code. Happily for 
bo'.h races they are now free. Tliey have, from a stand-point of 
ignorance and poverty, which was our shame, not theirs, made 
remarkable advances in education and in the acquisition of property. 
They have, as a people, shown themselves to be friendly and faith- 
ful towards the white race, under temptations of tremendous 
strength. They have their representatives in the national ceme- 
teries where a grateful Government has gathered the ashes of 
those who died in its defense. They have furnished to our regular 
Army regiments that have won high praise from their commanding 
officers for courage and soldierly qualities, and for fidelity to the 
enlistment oath. In civil life they are now the toilers of their com- 
munities, making their full contribution to the widening streams 
of prosperity which these communities are receiving. Their sudden 
withdrawal would stoj) production and bring disorder into the 
household as well as the shop. Generally they do not desire to 
quit their homes, and their employers resent the interference of the 
emigration agents who seek to stimulate such a desire. 

But, notwithstanding all this, in many parts of our country where 
the colored population is large the people of that race are, by various 
devices, deprived of any effective exercise of their political rights 
and of many of their civil rights. The wrong does not expend 
itself upon those whose votes are suppressed. Every constituency 
in the Union is wrong. 

It has been the hope of every patriot that a sense of justice and 
of respect for the law would work a gradual cure of these flagrant 
evils. Surely, no one supposes that the present can be accepted as 
a permanent condition. If it is said that these communities must 
work out this problem for themselves, we have a right to ask 
whether they are at work upon it. Do they suggest any solution? 
When and under what conditions is the black man to have a free 
ballot? When is he in fact to have those full civil rights which 
have so long been his in law? When is that equality of influence 
which our form of government was intended to secure to the electors 
to be restored? This generation should courageously face these 
grave questions, and not leave them as a heritage of woe to the next- 
The consultation should proceed with candor, calmness, and great 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 63 

patience ; upon the lines of justice and Imnianity, not of prejudice 
and cruelty. No question in our country can be at rest except upon 
the firm base of justice and of the law. 

I earnestly invoke the attention of Congress to the consideration 
of such measures within its well-defined constitutional powers as 
will secure to all our people a free exercise of the right of suffrage 
and every other civil right under the Constitution and laws of 
the United States. No evil, however deplorable, can justify the 
assumption, either on the part of the Executive or of Congress, of 
powers not granted ; but both will be highly blaniable if all the 
powers granted are not wisely but firmly used to correct these evils. 
The power to take the whole direction and control of the election 
of members of the House of Representatives is clearly given to the 
General Government. A partial and qualified supervision of these 
elections is now provided for by law, and in my opinion this law 
may be so strengthened and extended as to secure, on the whole, 
better results than can be attained by a law taking all the processes 
of such election into Federal control. The colored man should be 
protected in all of his relations to the Federal Government, whether 
as litigant, juror, or witness in our courts, as an elector for members 
of Congress, or as a peaceful tra\eler upon our interstate railways. 

There is nothing more justly humiliating to the national pride, 
and nothing more hurtful to the national prosperity than the infe- 
riority of our merchant marine compared with that of other nations 
whose general resources, wealth, and .seacoast lines do not suggest 
any reason for their supremacy on the sea. It was not alwajs so, 
and our people are agreed, I think, that it shall not continue to be 
so. It is not possible in this communication to discuss the causes 
of the decay of our shipping interests or the differing methods by 
which it is proposed to restore them. The statement of a few well- 
authenticated facts and some general suggestions as to legislation 
is all that is practicable. That the great steamship lines sailing 
under the flags of England, France, Germany, vSpain, and Italy, and 
engaged in foreign commerce, were promoted, and have since been 
and now are liberally aided, by grants of public money, in one form 
or another, is generally known. That the American lines of steam- 
ships have been abandoned by us to an unequal contest with the 
aided lines of other nations until they have been withdrawn, or, in 
the few cases where they are still maintained, are subject to serious 
disadvantages, is matter of common knowledge. 

The present situation is such that travelers and merchandi.se find 
Liverpool often a necessary intermediate port between New York 
and some of the South American capitals. The fact that some of 



64 Public Papers and Addresses of PcHjaiitin Harrison. 

the deleeates from vSoutli Ainc-rican states to the Conference of 
American Nations, now in session at Washing;ton, reached our 
slrores by reversinj^ that line of travel, is very conclusive of the 
need of snch a conference, and very suggestive as to the first and 
most necessary step in the direction of fuller and more beneficial 
intercourse with nations that are now our neighbors upon the 
lines of latitude, but not upon the lines of established commercial 
intercourse. 

I recommend that such appropriations be made for ocean-mail 
service, in American steamships, between our ports and those of 
Central and South America, China, Japan, and the important 
islands in both of the great oceans, as will be liberally remunera- 
tive for the service rendered, and as will encourage the establish- 
ment and in some fair degree equalize the chances of American 
steamship lines in the competitions which the)- must meet. That 
the American states lying south of us will cordially cooperate in 
establishing and maintaining such lines of steamships to their 
principal ports I do not doubt. 

We should also make provision for a naval reserve to consist of 
such merchant ships, of American construction and of a specified 
tonnage and speed, as the owners will consent to place at the use of 
the Government, in case of need, as armed cruisers. England has 
adopted this polic\', and as a result can now, upon necessity, at once 
place upon her naval list some of the fastest steamships in the 
world. A proper supervision of the construction of such vessels 
would make their conversion into effective ships of war very easy. 

I am an advocate of economy in our national expenditures, but 
it is a misuse of terms to make this word describe a policy that 
withholds an expenditure for the purpose of extending our foreign 
commerce. The enlargement and improvement of our merchant 
marine, the development of a sufficient body of trained American 
seamen, the promotion of rapid and regular mail communication 
between the ports of other countries and our own, and the adapta- 
tion of large and swift American merchant steamships to naval 
uses, in time of war, are public purposes of the highest concern. 
The enlarged participation of our people in the carrj'ing trade, the 
new and increased markets that will be opened for the products of 
our farms and factories, and the fuller and better employment of 
our mechanics, which will result from a liberal promotion of our 
foreign commerce, insure the widest possible diffusion of benefit to 
all the States and to all our people. Everything is most propitious 
for the present inauguration of a liberal and progressive policy 



Public Papers and Addresses of Peiijainin /larrison. 65 

upon this subject, and we should enter upon it with promptness 
and decision. 

The legislation which I have suggested, it is sincerely believed, 
will promote the peace and honor of our country and the prosperity 
and security of the people. I invoke the diligent and .serious 
attention of Congress to the consideration of these and such other 
measures as may be presented, having the same great end in view. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

ll'as/iiiig/oii, December ]^ iSS^. 



II. 

DECKMBER 1, 1890. 

To tlie Senate and House of Representatives : 

The reports of the several Executive Departments which will be 
laid before Congress in the usual course will exhibit in detail the 
operations of the Government for the last fiscal year. Oul}- the more 
important incidents and results, and chiefly such as may be the 
foundation of the recommendations I shall submit, will be referred 
to in this annual message. 

The vast and increasing business of the Government has been 
transacted by the several departments during the year with faithful- 
ness, energy, and success. The revenues, amounting to above four 
hundred and fifty million dollars, have been collected and disbursed 
without revealing, so far as I can ascertain, a single case of defalca- 
tion or embezzlement. An earnest effort has been made to stimulate 
a sense of responsibility and jjublic duty in all officers and employes 
of every grade, and the work done by them has almost wholly 
escaped unfavorable criticism. I speak of these matters with free- 
dom because the credit of this good work is not mine, but is shared 
by the heads of the several departments with the great body of 
faithful officers and employes who serve under them. The closest 
scrutiny of Congress is invited to all the methods of administration 
and to every item of expenditure. 

The friendly relations of our country with the nations of Europe 
and of the East have been inidisturbed, while the ties of good will 
and common interest that bind us to the states of the Western Hem- 
isphere have been notably strengthened by the conference held in 
this capital to consider measures for the general welfare. Pursuant 
to the invitation authorized by Congress, the representatives of every 
15151 5 



66 Public Papers and Addresses of Bciijaiiiin Harrison. 

independent state of the American Continent and of Haiti met in 
conference in this capital in October, 1889, and continned in session 
nntil the 19th of last April. This important convocation marks a 
most interesting and influential epoch in the history of the Western 
Hemisphere. It is noteworthy that Brazil, invited while under an 
imperial form of government, shared as a Republic in the delibera- 
tions and results of the conference. The recommendations of this 
conference were all transmitted to Congress at the last session. 

The International Marine Conference, which sat at Washington 
last winter, reached a very gratifying result. The regulations sug- 
gested have been brought to the attention of all the governments 
represented, and their general adoption is confidently expected. 
The legislation of Congress at the last session is in conformity with 
the propositions of the conference, and the proclamation therein 
provided for will be issued when the other powers have given notice 
of their adhesion. 

The conference of Bru.ssels, to devise means for suppressing the 
slave trade in Africa, aflforded an opportunity for a new expression 
of the interest the American people feel in that great work. It soon 
became evident that the measure proposed would tax the resources 
of the Congo Basin beyond the revenues available under the general 
act of Berlin of 1884. The United States, not being a party to that 
act, could not share in its revision, but by a separate act the inde- 
pendent State of the Congo was freed from the restrictions upon a 
customs revenue. The demoralizing and destructive traffic in ardent 
spirits among the tribes also claimed the earnest attention of the 
conference, and the delegates of the United States were foremost in 
advocating measures for its repression. An accord was reached, the 
influence of which will be very helpful and extend over a wide 
region. As soon as these measures shall receive the sanction of the 
Netherlands, for a time withheld, the general acts will be submitted 
for ratification by the Senate. Meanwhile negotiations have been 
opened for a new and complete treaty of friendship, commerce, and 
navigation between the United States and the independent State of 
the Congo. 

Toward the end of the past year the only independent monarchical 
government on the Western Continent, that of Brazil, ceased to exist 
and was succeeded by a Republic. Diplomatic relations were at once 
established with the new government, but it was not completely 
recognized until an opportunity had been afforded to ascertain that 
it had popular approval and support. When the course of events 
had yielded assurance of this fact, no time was lost in extending to 
the new government a full and cordial welcome into the family of 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bcii/'a)nin Harrison. 67 

American comiuonwealths. It is confidently believed that the j^ood 
relations of the two coinitries will be preserved, and that the future 
will witness an increased intimacy of intercourse and an expansion 
of their mutual commerce. 

The peace of Central America has aj^ain been disturbed through 
a revolutionary chans^e in Salvador, which was not recognized 
by other States, and hostilities broke out between Salvador and 
Guatemala, threateniug to involve all Central America in conflict and 
to undo the progress which had been made toward a union of their 
interests. The efforts of this Government were promptly and zeal- 
ously e.xerted to compose their differences and through the active 
efforts of the representati\-e of the United States a provisional treaty 
of peace was signed August 26, whereby the right of the Republic of 
Salvador to choose its own rulers was recognized. General Ezeta, 
the chief of the provisional go\-ernment, has since been confirmed 
in the Presidency by the Assembly, and diplomatic recognition 
duly followed. 

The killing of General Barrundia on board the Pacific mail 
steamer Acapiiko, while anchored in transit in the port of San Jose 
de Guatemala, demanded careful inquiry. Having failed in a 
revohitionary attempt to invade Guatemala from Mexican territory. 
General Barrundia took passage at Acapulco for Panama. The 
consent of the representatives of the United States was sought to 
effect his seizure, first at Champerico, where the steamer touched, 
and afterwards at San Jose. The captain of the steamer refused to 
give up his passenger without a written order from the United 
States minister ; the latter furnished the desired letter, stipulating, 
as the condition of his action, that General Barrundia' s life should 
be spared and that he should be tried onh' for offenses growing out 
of his insurrectionary movements. This letter was produced to the 
captain of the Acapuho by the military commander at San Jose, as 
his warrant to take the passenger from the steamer. General 
Barrundia resisted capture and was killed. It being evident that 
the minister, Mr. Mizner, had exceeded the bounds of his authority 
in intervening, a compliance with the demands of the Guatemalan 
authorities, to authorize and effect, in violation of precedent, the 
seizure on a vessel of the United States of a passenger in transit 
charged with political offenses, in order that he might be tried for 
such offenses under what was described as martial law, I was 
constrained to disavow Mr. Mizner's act and recall him from his 
post. 

The Nicaragua Canal project, under the control of our citizens, 
is making most encouraging progress, all the preliminary conditions 



68 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

and initial operations liavini,'^ been accomplished within the pre- 
scribed time. 

During the past vear negotiations have been renewed for the 
settlement of the claims of American citizens against the (lovern- 
ment of Chile, principally growing out of the late war with Peru. 
The reports from our minister at Santiago warrant the expectation 
of an early and satisfactory adjustment. 

Our relations with China, which have for several years occupied so 
important a place in our diplomatic history, have called for careful 
consideration and have been the subject of much correspondence. 

The communications of the Chinese minister have brought into 
view the whole subject of our conventional relations with his 
country ; and at the same time this Government, through its 
legation at Peking, has sought to arrange various matters and 
complaints touching the interests and protection of our citizens in 
China. 

In pursuance of the concurrent resolution of October i, 1890, I 
have proposed to the Governments of Mexico and Great Britain to 
consider a conventional regulation of the passage of Chinese laborers 
across our southern and northern frontiers. 

On the 22d day of August last Sir Edmund Monson, the arbitrator 
selected under the treaty of December 6, 1S88, rendered an award 
to the effect that no compensation was due from the Danish Govern- 
ment to the United States on account of what is commonly known 
as the Carlos Butterfield claim. 

Our relations with the French Republic continue to be cordial. 
Our representative at that court has very diligently urged the 
removal of the restrictions imposed upon our meat products, and 
it is believed that substantial progress has been made towards a just 
settlement. 

The Samoan treaty, signed last year at Berlin by the representa- 
tives of the United States, Germany, and Great Britain, after due 
ratification and exchange, has begun to produce salutary effects. 
The formation of the government agreed upon will soon replace 
the disorder of the past by a stable administration, alike just to the 
natives and equitable to the three powers most concerned in trade 
and intercourse with the Samoan Islands. The chief justice has 
been chosen by the King of Sweden and Norway, on the invitation 
of the three powers, and will soon Idc installed. The land com- 
mission and the municipal council are in process of organization. 
A rational and evenly distributed .scheme of taxation, both municipal 
and upon imports, is in operation. Malietoa is respected as King. 
The new treaty of extradition with Great Britain, after due 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bei!ja>iiii! Harrison. 69 

ratification, was proclaimed on the 25tli of last March. Its bene- 
ficial working is already apparent. 

The difference between the two Governments touching the fur-seal 
question in the Bering Sea is not yet adjusted, as will be seen by 
the correspondence which will .soon be laid before Congress. The 
offer to submit the question to arbitration, as proposed by Her 
Majesty's Government, has not been accepted, for the reason that 
the form of submission proposed is not thought to be calculated to 
assure a conclusion .satisfactory to either party. It is sincerely hoped 
that before the opening of another sealing season some arrangement 
may be effected which will assure to the United States a property 
right, derived from Russia, which was not disregarded by any nation 
for more than eighty years preceding the outbreak of the existing 
trouble. 

In the tariff act a wrong was done to the Kingdom of Hawaii 
which I am bound to presume was wholly unintentional. Duties 
were levied on certain commodities which are included in the 
reciprocity treaty now existing between the United States and the 
Kingdom of Hawaii, without indicating the necessary exception in 
favor of that Kingdom. I hope Congress will repair what might 
otherwise seem to be a breach of faith on the part of this Government. 

An award in favor of the United States in the matter of the claim 
of Mr. Van Bokkelen against Haiti was rendered on the 4th of 
December, 18SS, but owing to disorders then and afterwards pre- 
vailing in Haiti the terms of payment were not observed. A new 
agreement as to the time of pa^'uient has been approved and is now 
in force. Other just claims of citizens of the United States for 
redress of wrongs suffered during the late political conflict in Haiti 
will, it is hoped, speedily yield to friendly treatment. 

Propositions for the amendment of the treaty of extradition 
between the United States and Italy are now under consideration. 

You will be asked to provide the means of accepting the invitation 
of the Italian Government to take part in an approaching conference 
to consider the adoption of a universal prime meridian from which 
to reckon longitude and time. As this proposal follows in the 
track of the reform .soxight to be initiated by the Meridian Conference 
of Washington, held on the invitation of this Government, the 
United .States should manifest a friendh- interest in the Italian 
proposal. 

In this connection I may refer with approval to the suggestion 
of my predecessors, that standing provision be made for accepting, 
whenever deemed advisable, the frequent invitations of foreign 
governments to share in conferences looking to the advancement of 



70 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

international reforms in regard to science, sanitation, commercial 
laws and procednre, and other matters affecting the interconrse and 
progress of modern commnnities. 

In the snmmer of 1889 an incident occnrred which for some time 
threatened to interrnpt the cordiality of our relations with the 
Government of Portugal. That Government seized the Delagoa 
Bay Railway, which was constructed under a concession granted to 
an American citizen, and at the same time annulled the charter. 
The concessionary, who had embarked his fortune in the enterprise, 
having exhausted other means of redress, was compelled to invoke 
the protection of his government. Our representations, made 
coincidently with those of the British Government, whose subjects 
were also largely interested, happily resulted in the recognition by 
Portugal of the propriety of submitting the claim for indemnity, 
growing out of its action, to arbitration. This plan of settlement 
having been agreed upon, the interested powers readily concurred 
in the proposal to submit the case to the judgment of three eminent 
jurists, to be designated by the president of the Swiss Republic, 
who, upon the joint invitation of the Governments of the United 
States, Great Britain, and Portugal, has selected persons well quali- 
fied for the task before them. 

The revision of our treaty relations with the Empire of Japan has 
continued to be the subject of consideration and of correspondence. 
The questions involved are both grave and delicate ; and, while it 
will be my duty to see that the interests of the United States are 
not by any changes exposed to undue discrimination, I sincerely 
hope that such revision as will satisfy the legitimate expectations 
of the Japanese Government, and maintain the present and long 
existing friendly relations between Japan and the United States, 
will be effected. 

The friendship between our country and Mexico, born of close 
neighborhood and strengthened by many considerations of intimate 
intercourse and reciprocal interest, has never been more conspicuous 
than now, nor more hopeful of increased benefit to both nations. 
The intercourse of the two countries by rail, already great, is 
making constant growth. The established lines, and those recently 
projected, add to the intimacy of traffic and open new channels of 
access to fresh areas of demand and supply. The importance of the 
Mexican railway system will be further enhanced, to a degree almost 
impossible to forecast, if it should become a link in the projected 
intercontinental railwav. I recommend that our mission in the 
City of Mexico be raised to the first class. 

The cordial character of our relations with Spain warrants the 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjann'n Plarrisoti. 71 

hope that by the continuance of methods of friendly negotiation 
nnicli ma}' be accomplished in the direction of an adjnstment of 
pending questions and of the increase of onr trade. The extent 
and development of onr trade with the island of Cuba in\'est the 
commercial relations of the United States and Spain with a peculiar 
importance. It is not doubted that a special arrangement in regard 
to commerce, based upon the reciprocity provision of the recent 
tariff act, would operate most beneficially for both (rovernments. 
This subject is now receiving attention. 

The restoration of the remains of John Ericsson to Sweden 
afforded a gratifying occasion to honor the memory of the great 
inventor, to whose genius our countr\- owes so much, and to bear 
witness to the unbroken friendship which has existed between the 
land which bore him and our own, which claimed him as a citizen. 

On the 2d of September last the Commission appointed to revi.se 
the proceedings of the commission under the claims convention 
between the United States and Venezuela of 1866 brought its 
labors to a close within the period fixed for that purpose. The 
proceedings of the late Commission were characterized by a spirit 
of impartiality and a high sense of justice, and an incident which 
was for many years the subject of discussion between the two Gov- 
ernments has been disjDosed of in a manner alike honorable and 
satisfactory to both parties. For the settlement of the claim of the 
Venezuela Steam Transportation Company, which was a subject of 
a joint resolution adopted at the last session of Congress, negotia- 
tions are still in progress, and their early conclusion is anticipated. 

The legislation of the past few years has evinced on the part of 
Congress a growing realization of the importance of the consular 
service in fostering our commercial relations abroad and in protect- 
ing the domestic revenues. As the scope of operations expands, 
increased provision must be made to keep up the essential standard 
of efficiency. The necessity of some adecjuate measure of super- 
vision and inspection has been so often presented that I need only 
commend the sid)ject to your attention. 

The revenues of the Government from all sources for the fiscal 
year ending June 30, 1890, were #463,963,080.55, and the total 
expenditures for the same period were $358,618,584.52. The 
postal receipts have not heretofore been included in the statement 
of these aggregates, and for the purpose of comparison the sum of 
$60,882,097.92 should be deducted from both sides of the account. 
The surplus for the year, including the amount applied to the 
sinking fund, was $105,344,496.03. The receipts for 1890 were 
$16,030,923.79 and the expenditures $15,739,871 in excess of those 



72 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamiu Harrison. 

of 1889. The customs receipts increased $5,835,842.88 and the 
receipts from internal revenue $11,725,191.89, while, on the side of 
expenditures, that for pensions was $19,312,075.96 in excess of the 
preceding year. 

The Treasury statement for the current fiscal year, partly actual 
and partly estimated, is as follows : Receipts from all sources, 
$406,000,000 ; total expenditures, $354,000,000, leaving a surplus 
of $52,000,000 — not taking the postal receipts into the account on 
either side. The loss of revenue from customs for the last quarter 
is estimated at $25,000,000, biit from this is deducted a gain of 
about $16,000,000, realized during the first four months of the year. 

For the year 1892 the total estimated receipts are $373,000,000 
and the estimated expenditures $357,852,209.42, leaving an esti- 
mated surplus of $15,147,790.58, which, with a cash balance of 
$52,000,000 at the beginning of the year, will give $67,147,790.58 
as the sum available for the redemption of outstanding bonds or 
other uses. The estimates of receipts and expenditures for the 
Post-Office Department, being equal, are not included in this state- 
ment on either side. 

The act "directing the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of 
Treasury notes thereon," approved July 14, 1890, has been admin- 
istered by the Secretary of the Treasury with an earnest jinrpose to 
get into circulation at the earliest possible dates the full monthly 
amounts of Treasury notes contemplated by its provisions and at 
the same time to give to the market for silver biillion such support 
as the law contemplates. The recent depreciation in the price of 
silver has been observed with regret. The rapid rise in price which 
anticipated and followed the passage of the act was influenced in 
some degree by speculation, and the recent reaction is in part the 
result of the same cause and in part of the recent monetary disturb- 
ances. Some months of further trial will be necessary to determine 
the permanent effect of the recent legislation upon silver valuer, 
but it is gratifying to know that the increased circulation secured 
by the act has exerted and will contintie to exert a most beneficial 
influence upon business and upon general values. 

While it has not been thought best to renew formally the sug- 
gestion of an international conference looking to an agreement 
touching the full use of silver for coinage at a uniform ratio, care 
has been taken to obser\'e closely any change in the situation abroad, 
and no favorable opportunity will be lost to promote a result which 
it is confidently believed would confer very large benefits upon the 
commerce of the world. 

The recent monetary disturbances in England are not unlikely 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 73 

to suggest a reexamination of opinions npon tliis snbject. Our 
very large supply of gold will, if not lost by impulsive legislation 
in the supposed interest of silver, give us a position of advantage 
in promoting a permanent and safe international agreement for the 
free use of silver as a coin metal. 

The efforts of the Secretary to increase the volume of money in 
circulation by keeping down the Treasury surplus to the lowest 
practicable limit have been unremitting and in a very high degree 
successful. The tables presented by him, showing the increase of 
money in circulation during the last two decades, and especially 
the table showing the increase during the nineteen months he has 
administered the affairs of the Department, are interesting and 
instructive. The increase of money in circulation during the 
nineteen months has been in the aggregate 193,866,813, or about 
I1.50 i^er capita, and of this increase only $7,100,000 was due to 
the recent silver legislation. That this substantial and needed aid 
given to commerce resulted in an enormous reduction of the public 
debt and of the annual interest charge is matter of increased .satis- 
faction. There have been purchased and redeemed since March 4, 
1889, 4 and 4)^ per cent bonds to the amount of $211,832,450, at a 
cost of $246,620,741, resulting in the reduction of the annual interest 
charge of $8,967,609 and a total .saving of interest of $51,576, 706. 

I notice with great pleasure the statement of the Secretary that 
tlie receipts from internal revenue have increa.sed during the la,st 
fi.scal year nearly $12,000,000 and that the cost of collecting this 
larger revenue was less by $90,617 than for the same purpo.se in the 
preceding year. The percentage of cost of collecting the customs 
revenue was less for the last fiscal year than ever before. 

The customs administration board provided for by the act of June 
10, 1890, was selected with great care and is composed in part of 
men whose previous experience in the administration of the old 
customs regulations had made them familiar with the evils to be 
remedied, and in part of men whose li-gal and judicial acquirements 
and experience seemed to fit them for the work of interpreting and 
applying the new statute. The chief aim of the law is to secure 
honest valuations of all dutiable mercliandise and to make these 
valuations uniform at all our ports of entry. It had been made 
manifest by a Congressional investigation that a system of under- 
valuation had been long in use by certain classes of importers, 
resulting not only in a great loss of revenue, but in a most intoler- 
able discrimination against honesty. It is not seen how this 
legislation, when it is understood, can be regarded by the citizens 
of any country having commercial dealings with us as unfriendlv 



74 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

If any duty is supposed to be excessive let the complaint be lodged 
there. It will surely not be claimed by any well-disposed people that 
a remedy may be sought and allowed in a system of quasi smuggling. 
The report of the Secretary of War exhibits several gratifying 
results attained during the year by wise and unostentatious methods. 
The percentage of desertions from the Army (an evil for which both 
Congress and the Department have long been seeking a remed)) has 
been reduced during the past year 24 per cent, and for the months 
of August and September, during which time the favorable effects 
of the act of June 16 were felt, 33 per cent as compared with the 
.same months of 1889. 

The results attained by a reorganization and consolidation of the 
divisions having charge of the hospital and service records of the 
volunteer soldiers are very remarkable. This change was effected 
in July, 1889, and at that time there were 40,654 cases awaiting 
attention, more than half of the.se being calls from the Pension 
Office for information necessary to the adjudication of pension claims. 
On the 30th day of June last, though over three hundred thousand 
new calls had come in, there was not a single case that had not 
been examined and answered. 

I concur in the recommendations of the Secretary that adequate 
and regular appropriations be continued for coast-defen.se works and 
ordnance. Plans have been practically agreed upon, and there can 
be no good reason for delaying the execution of them ; while the 
defenseless state of our great seaports furnishes an urgent reason 
for wise expedition. 

The encouragement tliat has been extended to the militia of the 
States, generally and most appropriately designated the "National 
Guard," should be continued and enlarged. These military organi- 
zations constitute, in a large sense, the Army of the United States, 
while about five-sixths of the annual cost of their maintenance is 
defrayed by the States. 

The report of the Attorney-General is under the law submitted 
directly to Congress, but as the Department of Justice is one of 
the Executive Departments some reference to the work done is 
appropriate here. 

A vigorous and, in the main, an effective effort has been made to 
bring to trial and punishment all violators of the laws ; but at the 
same time, care has been taken that frivolous and technical offenses 
should not be used to swell the fees of officers to harass well-disposed 
citizens. Especial attention is called to the facts connected with 
the prosecution of violations of the election laws, and of offenses 
against United States officers. The number of convictions secured, 



Public Papci's and Addresses of Jleii/aii/iii Ilarrisou. 75 

very inan-\' of them up<m pleas of s^nilt^-, -will, it is hoped, have a 
sahitan* restraining intlnence. There have been several cases where 
postmasters appointed by me have been subjected to violent inter- 
ference in the discharge of their official duties and to persecutions and 
personal violence of the most extreme character. Some of these 
cases have been dealt with through the Department of Justice, 
and in some cases the post-offices have been abolished or suspended. 
I have directed the Postmaster-General to pursue this cour.se in 
all cases where other efforts failed to secure for any postmaster, 
not himself in fault, an opportunity peacefully to exercise the duties 
of his office. But such action will not supplant the efforts of the 
Department of Justice to bring the partictilar offenders to punishment. 

The vacation b\- judicial decrees of fraudulent certificates of nat- 
uralization, upon bills in equity filed liy the .\ttorne)--Geueral in the 
circuit court of the United States, is a new application of a familiar 
equit)- jurisdiction. Nearh' one hundred such decrees have been 
taken during the year, the evidence disclosing that a ver\- large 
number of fraudulent certificates of naturalization have been i.ssued. 
And in this connection I beg to renew my recommendation that the 
laws be so amended as to require a more full and searching injury 
into all the facts necessary to naturalization before any certificates 
are granted. It certainly is not too much to require that an appli- 
cation for American citizenship shall be heard with as much care 
and recorded with as uuich formality as are given to cases involving 
the pettiest property right. 

At the last session I returned, without my approval, a bill entitled 
"An act to prohibit book-making and pool-selling in the District of 
Columbia," and stated my objection to be that it did not prohibit, 
but in fact licensed what it purported to prohibit. An effort will 
be made under existing laws to suppress this e\^il, though it is not 
certain that they will be found adequate. 

The report of the Postmaster-General shows the most grati tying 
progress in the important work committed to his direction. The 
business methods have been greatly improved. A large econoni)' in 
expenditures and an increase of four and three-quarters millions in 
receipts have been realized. The deficiency this year is $5,786,300 
as against $6,350,1X3 last year, notwithstanding the great enlarge- 
ment of the service. Mail routes have been extended and quickened, 
and greater accurac\' and dispatch in distribution and delivery have 
been attained. The report will be found to be full of interest and 
suggestions, not only to Congress, but to those thoughtful citizens 
who may be interested to know what business methods can do for 
that department of public administration which most nearly touches 
all our people. 



76 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

The passage of the act to amend certain sections of the Revised 
Statutes relating to lotteries, approved September 19, 1890, has been 
received with great and deserved popular favor. The Post-Office 
Department and the Department of Justice at once entered upon the 
enforcement of the law with sympathetic vigor, and already the 
public mails have been largelv freed from the fraudulent and demor- 
alizing appeals and literature emanating from the lottery companies. 

The construction and equipment of the new ships for the Navy 
have made very satisfactory progress. Since March 4, 1889, nine 
new vessels have been put in commission, and during this winter 
four more, including one monitor, will be added. The construction 
of the other vessels authorized is being pushed, both in the Govern- 
ment and private yards, with energ}' and watched with the most 
scrupulous care. 

The experiments conducted during the year to test the relative 
resisting power of armor plates have been so valuable as to attract 
great attention in Europe. The only part of the work upon the 
new ships that is threatened by unusual dela}' is the armor plating, 
and every effort is being made to reduce that to the minimum. It 
is a source of congratulation that the anticipated influence of these 
modern vessels upon the esprit de corps of the officers and seamen 
has been fully realized. Confidence and pride in the ship among 
the crew are equivalent to a secondary battery. Your favorable 
consideration is invited to the recommendations of the Secretary. 

The report of the Secretary of the Interior exhibits with great 
fullness and clearness the vast work of that Department and the 
satisfactory results attained. The suggestions made b)- him are 
earnestly commended to the consideration of Congress, though they 
can not all be given particular mention here. 

The several acts of Congress looking to the reduction of the larger 
Indian reservations, to the more rapid settlement of the Indians upon 
individual allotments, and the restoration to the public domain of 
lands in excess of their needs, have been largely carried into effect, 
so far as the work was confided to the Executive. Agreements 
have been concluded since March 4, 1889, involving the cession 
to the United States of about 14,726,000 acres of land. These 
contracts have, as required by law, been submitted to Congress 
for ratification and for the appropriations necessary to carrj' them 
into effect. Those with the Sisseton and Wahpeton, Sac and Fox, 
Iowa, Pottawatomies and Absentee Shawnees, and Coeur d'Al^ne 
tribes have not yet received the sanction of Congress. Attention 
is also called to the fact that the appropriations made in the case of 
the Sioux Indians have not covered all the stipulated payments. 



Public Papers and .iddrcsscs of Benjamin Harrison. 77 

This should. be promptly corrected. If an agreement is confirmed, 
all of its terms should be complied with without delay, and full 
appropriations should be made. 

The policy outlined in my last annual message in relation to the 
patenting of lands to settlers upon the public domain has been 
carried out in the administration of the Land Office. No general 
suspicion or imputation of fraud has been allowed to delay the 
hearing and adjudication of individual cases upon their merits. The 
purpose has been to perfect the title of honest settlers with such 
])ronii)tness that the value of the entry might not be swallowed up 
by the expense and extortions to which delay subjected the claimant. 
The average monthly issue of agricultural patents has been increased 
al)out 6,000. 

The disability pension act, which was approved on the 27th of 
June last, has been put into operation as rapidly as was practicable. 
The increased clerical force provided was selected and assigned to 
work, and a considerable part of the force engaged in examinations 
in the field was recalled and added to the working force of the oflRce. 
The examination and adjudication of claims have, bv reason of 
improved methods, been more rapid than ever before. There is no 
economy to the Government in delay, while there is much hardship 
and injustice to the soldier. The anticipated expenditure, while 
very large, will not, it is believed, be in excess of the estimates made 
before the enactment of the law. This liberal enlargement of the 
general law should suggest a more careful scrutiny of bills for 
special relief, both as to the cases where relief is granted and as to 
the amount allowed. 

The increasing numbers and influence of the non-Mormon popu- 
lation in Utah are observed with .satisfaction. The recent letter of 
Wilford Woodruff, president of the Mormon Church, in which he 
advised his people "to refrain from contracting any marriage for- 
bidden by the laws of the land," has attracted wide attention, and 
it is hoped that its influence will be highly beneficial in restraining 
infractions of the laws of the United vStates. But the fact .should 
not be overlooked that the doctrine or belief of the church that 
polygamous marriages are rightful and supported by Divine revela- 
tion remains unchanged. President Woodruff does not renounce 
the doctrine, but refrains from teaching it, and advises against the 
practice of it because the law is against it. Now, it is quite true 
that the law should not attempt to deal with the faith or belief of 
any one; but it is quite another thing, and the only .safe thing, 
so to deal with the Territory of Utali as that those who believe 
polygamy to be rightful .shall not have the power to make it lawful. 



78 Public Papers and Addresses of Bcnjamiii Harrison. 

Tlie admission of the States of Wyoming and Idaho to the Union 
are events full of interest and congratulation, not only to the people 
of those States now happily endowed with a full participation in 
our privileges and responsibilities, but to all our people. Another 
belt of States stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

The work of the Patent Office has won from all sources very high 
commendation. The amount accomplished has been very largely 
increased, and all the results have been such as to secure confidence 
and consideration for the suggestions of the Commissioner. 

The enumeration of the people of the United States under the 
provisions of the act of March i, 1889, has been completed and the 
result will be at once officially communicated to Congress. The 
completion of this decennial enumeration devolves upon Congress 
the duty of making a new apportionment of Representatives 
"among the several States according to their respective numbers." 

At the last session I had occasion to return with my objections 
several bills making provisions for the erection of public buildings, 
for the reason that the expenditures contemplated were in my 
opinion greatly in excess of any public need. No class of legisla- 
tion is more liable to abuse, or to degenerate into an unseemly 
scramble about the public treasury, than this. There should be 
exercised in this matter a wise economy based upon some responsi- 
ble and impartial examination and report as to each case, under a 
general law. 

The report of the Secretary of Agriculture deserves especial 
attention in view of the fact that the year has been marked in a very 
unusual degree by agitation and organization among the farmers 
looking to an increase in the profits of their business. It will be 
found that the efforts of the Department have been intelligently 
and zealously devoted to the promotion of the interests intrusted 
to its care. 

A very substantial improvement in the market prices of the lead- 
ing farm products during the year is noticed. The price of wheat 
advanced from 81 cents in October, 1S89, to $1.0034; in October, 1890; 
corn from 31 cents to 5034! cents ; oats from \^y{ cents to 43 cents ; 
and barley from 63 cents to 78 cents. Meats showed a substantial 
but not so large an increase. The export trade in live animals 
and fowls shows a very large increase; the total value of such 
exports for the year ending June 30, 1890, was $33,000,000, and the 
increase over the preceding year was over 115,000,000. Nearly 
200,000 more cattle and over 45,000 more hogs were exported than 
in the preceding year. The export trade in beef and pork products 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bcujainiii Harrison. 79 

and in dairy products was ver\- largel\- increased, the increase in the 
article of butter alone bein;^' from 15,504,978 pounds to 29,748,042 
pounds, and the total increase in the value of meat and dairy 
products exported being $34,000,000. This trade, so directly lielp- 
ful to the faruier, it is believed will be yet further and very largely 
increased when the system of inspection and sanitary supervision 
now provided by law is brought fully into operation. 

The efforts of the Secretar\- to establish the healthfulness of our 
meats against the disparaging imputations that have been put upon 
them abroad have resulted in substantial progress. Veterinary 
surgeons sent out b\' the Department are now allowed to participate 
in the inspection of the live cattle from this country landed at the 
English docks, and during the several months they have been on 
duty no case of contagious pleuro-pneumonia has been reported. 
This inspection abroad, and the domestic inspection of live animals 
and pork products, provided for by the act of August 30, 1890, will 
afford as perfect a guaranty for the wholesomeness of our meats 
offered for foreign consumption as is anywhere given to any food 
product, and its nonacceptance will quite clearly reveal the real 
motive of any continued restriction of their use; and, that having 
been made clear, the duty of the Executive will be very plain. 

The information given by the Secretary of the progress and 
prospects of the beet-sugar industry is full of interest. It has 
already passed the experimental stage and is a commercial success. 
The area over which the sugar beet can be successfully cultivated 
is ver\- large, and another field crop of great value is offered to the 
choice of the farmer. 

The Secretary of the Treasury concurs in the recommendation of 
the Secretary of Agriculture that the official supervision provided b>- 
the tariff law for sugar of domestic production .shall be transferred 
to the Department of Agriculture. 

The law relating to the civil service has, so far as I can learn, 
been executed by tho.se having the power of appointment in the 
classified service with fidelity and impartiality, and the .service 
has been increasingly satisfactory. The report of the Commission 
shows a large amount of good work done during the \ear with ver)- 
limited appropriations. 

I congratulate the Congress and the country upon the passage at 
the first .session of the Fifty-first Congress of an unusual number of 
laws of \-er>- high importance. That the results of this legislation 
will be the quickening and enlargement of our manufacturing 
industries, larger and better markets for our breadstuffs and pro- 
visions both at home and abroad, more constant emplo\inent and 



8o Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

better wages for our working people, and an increased supply of a 
safe currency for the transaction of business, I do not doubt. Some 
of these measures were enacted at so late a period that the beneficial 
effects upon commerce, which were in the contemplation of Con- 
gress, have as yet but partially manifested themselves. 

The general trade and industrial conditions throughout the 
country during the year have shown a marked improvement. For 
many years prior to iS8S the merchandise balances of foreign trade 
had been largely in our favor, but during that year and the year 
following they turned against us. It is very gratifying to know 
that the last fiscal }'ear again shows a balance in our favor of over 
$68,000,000. The bank clearings, which furnish a good test of the 
volume of business transacted, for the first ten months of the year 
iSgo show, as compared with the same months of 1889, an increase 
for the whole country of about 8.4 per cent, while the increase 
outside of the city of New York was over 13 per cent. During the 
month of October the clearings of the whole country showed an 
increase of 3.1 per cent over October, i88g, while outside of New 
York the increase was ii>^ per cent. These figures show that the 
increase in the volume of business was very general throughout the 
country. That this larger business was being conducted upon a 
safe and profitable basis is shown by the fact that there were three 
hundred less failures reported in October, 1890, than in the same 
month of the preceding year, with liabilities diminished b>' about 
$5,000,000. 

The value of our exports of domestic merchandise during the last 
year was over $115,000,000 greater than the preceding year, and 
was only exceeded once in our history. About $100,000,000 of this 
excess was in agricultural j^roducts. The production of pig-iron — 
always a good gauge of general prosperity — is shown by a recent 
census bulletin to have been 153 per cent greater in 1890 than in 
1880, and the production of steel 290 per cent greater. Mining 
in coal has had no limitation except that resulting from deficient 
transportation. The general testimony is that labor is everywhere 
fully employed, and the reports for the last >-ear show a smaller 
number of employes affected by strikes and lockouts than in any 
year since 1884. The depression in the prices of agricultural 
products had been greatly relieved and a buoyant and hopeful tone 
was beginning to be felt by all our people. 

These promising influences have been in some degree checked by 
the surprising and very unfavorable monetary events which have 
recently taken place in England. It is gratifying to know that 
these did not grow in any degree out of the financial relations of 



I'lili/ii Papers and .hM/rssis of Bcnjaiiun llarrisoi. Si 

I^diuloii witli our people or out of any discredit attached to our 
securities lield in that market. The return of our bonds and stocks 
was caused Ijy a money string-ency in England, not by any loss of 
value or credit in the securities themselves. We could not, how- 
e\'er, wholly escape the ill effects of a foreign monetary agitation 
accompanied b\- such extraordinary incidents as characterized this. 
It is not believed, however, that these evil incidents, which have 
for the time unfavorably affected values in this countr)-, can long 
withstand the strong, safe, and wholesome influences which are 
operating to give to our people profitable returns in all branches of 
legitimate trade and industry. The apprehension that our tariff 
may again and at once be subjected to important general changes 
would undoubtedly add a depressing influence of the most serious 
character. 

The general tariff act has only partially gone into operation, .some 
of its important provisions being limited to take effect at dates yet 
in the future. The general provisions of the law have been in force 
less than sixty days. Its permanent effects upon trade and prices 
still largely stand in conjecture. It is curious to note that the 
advance in the prices of articles wholly unaffected by the tariff act 
was by many hastily ascribed to that act. Notice was not taken of 
the fact that the general tendency of the markets was upward from 
influences wholly apart from the recent tariff legislation. The 
enlargement of our currency by the silver bill undoubtedly gave 
an upward tendency to trade and had a marked effect on prices ; but 
this natural and desired effect of the silver legislation was by many 
erroneously attributed to the tariff act. 

There is neither wisdom nor justice in the suggestion that the 
subject of tariff revision shall be again opened before this law has 
had a fair trial. It is quite true that every tariff schedule is subject 
to objections. No bill was ever framed, I suppose, that in all of 
its rates and classifications had the full approval even of a party 
caucus. Such legislation is always and necessarily the product of 
compromise as to details, and the present law is no exception. But 
in its general scope and effect I think it will justify the support of 
those wdio believe that American legislation should conserve and 
defend American trade and the wages of American workmen. 

The misinformation as to the terms of the act which has been 
so widely disseminated at home and abroad will be corrected by 
experience, and the evil auguries as to its results confounded by the 
market reports, the savings banks, international trade balances, and 
the general prosperity of our people. Already we begin to hear 
from abroad and from our custom-houses that the prohibitory effect 
151.51 



82 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

upon importations imputed to the act is not justified. The imports 
at the port of New York for the first three weeks of November were 
nearly 8 per cent greater than for the same period in 1889 and 29 per 
cent greater than in the same period of 1888. And so far from being 
an act to limit exports, I confidently believe that under it we shall 
secure a larger and more profitable participation in foreign trade 
than we have ever enjoyed, and that we shall recover a proportionate 
participation in the ocean carrying trade of the world. 

The criticisms of the bill that have come to us from foreign sources 
may well be rejected for repugnanc}'. If these critics realh' believe 
that the adoption by us of a free-trade policy, or of tariff rates having 
reference solely to revenue, would diminish the participation of 
their own countries in the commerce of the world, their advocacy 
and promotion by speech and other forms of organized effort of this 
movement among our people is a rare exhibition of unselfishness 
in trade. And on the other hand, if they sincerely believe that the 
adoption of a protective-tariff policy by this country inures to their 
profit and our hurt, it is noticeably strange tliat the)- should lead 
the outcry against the authors of a polic}- so helpful to their 
countrymen, and crown with their favor those who would snatch 
from them a substantial share of a trade with other lands already 
inadequate to their necessities. 

There is no disposition among any of our people to promote 
prohibitory or retaliatory legislation. Our policies are adopted not 
to the hurt of others, but to secure for ourselves those advantages 
that fairly grow out of our favored position as a nation. Our form 
of government, with its incident of universal suffrage, makes it 
imperative that we shall save our working people from the agitations 
and distresses which scant work and wages that have no margin for 
comfort always beget. But after all this is done it will be found 
that our markets are open to friendly commercial exchanges of 
enormous value to the other great powers. 

From the time of my induction into office the duty of using every 
power and influence given by law to the Executive Department 
for the development of larger markets for our products, especially 
our farm products, has been kept constantly in mind, and no effort 
has been or will be spared to promote that end. We are under 
no disadvantage in any foreign market, except that we pay our 
workmen and workwomen better wages than are paid elsewhere — 
better abstractly, better relatively to the cost of the necessaries of 
life. I do not doubt that a very largely increased foreign trade 
is accessible to us without bartering for it either our home market 
for such products of the farm and shop as our own people can supply 
or the wages of our working people. 



Public /'apcrs a>ui .Iddrcsscs of Boijamiii Harrison. 8^ 

In iiuiu)- (it tlic products of wood and iron, and in niL-als and 
breadstufts, we have advantages tliat only need better facilities of 
intercourse and transportation to secure for them large foreign 
markets. The reciprocity clause of the tariff act wisely and effect- 
i\-ely opens the wa\- to secure a large recij^rocal trade in exchange 
for the tree admission to our ports of certain products. The right 
of independent nations to make S])ecial reciprocal trade conces.sions 
is well established, and does not impair either the comity due to 
other powers or what is known as the "favored-nation clause," so 
generally found in commercial treaties. What is given to one for 
an adequate agreed consideration can not be claimed by another 
freely. The state of the revenues was such that we could dispense 
with any import duties upon coffee, tea, hides, and the lower grades 
of sugar and molasses. That the large advantage resulting to the 
countries producing and exporting these articles Ijy placing them 
on the free list entitled us to e.xpect a fair return in the way of 
customs concessions upon articles exported by us to them was so 
obvious that to have gratuitously abandoned this opportunity to 
enlarge our trade would have been an unpardonable error. 

There were but two methods of maintaining control of this question 
open to Congress : to place all of these articles upon the dutiable 
list, subject to such treaty agreements as could be secured, or to place 
them all presently upon the free list, but subject to the reimposition 
of specified duties if the countries from which we received them 
should refuse to give to us suitable reciprocal benefits. This latter 
method, I think, possesses great advantages. It expresses in advance 
the consent of Congress to reciprocity arrangements affecting these 
products, which must otherwise have been delayed and unascer- 
tained until each treat)- was ratified by the Senate and the necessary- 
legislation enacted by Congress. Experience has shown that some 
treaties looking to reciprocal trade have failed to secure a two-thirds 
vote in the Senate for ratification, and others having passed that 
stage have for years awaited the concurrence of the House and 
Senate in such modifications of our revenue laws as were necessary 
to give effect to their provisions. We now have the concurrence of 
both Houses in advance in a distinct and definite offer of free entry 
to our ports of specific articles. The E.xecutive is not required to 
deal in conjecture as to what Congress will accept. Indeed, this 
reciprocity provision is more than an offer. Our part of the bargain 
is complete ; delivery has been made ; and when the countries from 
which we receive sugar, coffee, tea, and hides have placed on their 
free lists such of our products as shall be agreed upon, as an 
equivalent for our concession, a proclamation of that fact completes 



84 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

the transaction ; and in the mean time our own people have free 
sugjar, tea, coffee, and hides. 

The indications thus far given are very hopeful of early and 
favorable action by the countries from which we receive our large 
imports of coffee and stigar, and it is confidently believed that if 
steam communication with these countries can be promptly improved 
and enlarged the next year will show a most gratifying increase in 
our exports of breadstuffs and provisions, as well as of some impor- 
tant lines of manufactured goods. 

In addition to the important bills that became laws before the 
adjournment of the last session, some other bills of the highest 
importance were well advanced toward a final vote and now stand 
upon the calendars of the two Houses in favored positions. The 
present session has a fixed limit, and if these measures are not now 
brought to a final vote all the work that has been done npon them 
by this Congress is lost. The proper consideration of these, of an 
apportionment bill, and of the annual appropriation bills will require 
not only that no working day of the session shall be lost, but that 
measures of minor and local interest shall not be allowed to interrupt 
or retard the progress of those that«are of universal interest. In view 
of these conditions I refrain from bringing before you at this time 
some suggestions that would otherwise be made, and most earnestly 
invoke your attention to the duty of perfecting the important legis- 
lation now well advanced. To some of these measures which seem 
to me most important I now briefly call your attention. 

I desire to repeat with added urgency the recommendations con- 
tained in my last annual message in relation to the development of 
American steamship lines. The reciprocity clause of the tariff bill 
will be largely limited, and its benefits retarded and diminished, if 
provision is not contemporaneously made to encourage the establish- 
ment of first-class steam communication between our ports and the 
ports of such nations as may meet our overtures for enlarged com- 
mercial exchanges. The steamship, carrying the mails statedly and 
frequently, and offering to passengers a comfortable, safe, and speedy 
transit, is the first condition of foreign trade. It carries the order 
or the buyer, but not all that is ordered or bought. It gives to 
the sailing vessels such cargoes as are not urgent or perishable, and, 
indirectly at least, promotes that important adjunct of commerce. 
There is now both in this country and in the nations of Central and 
South America a state of expectation and confidence as to increased 
trade that will give a double value to your prompt action upon this 
question. 

The present situation of our mail communication with Australia 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benja»ii>i Herrison. 85 

illustrates the importance of early action bv Congress. The Oceanic 
vSteamsliip Company maintains a line of steamers between San 
Francisco, Sydney, and Auckland, consisting of three vessels, two 
of which are of United States registry and one of foreign registry. 
For the service done by this line in carrying the mails we pay 
annual] V the sum of $46,000, being, as estimated, the full sea and 
United States inland postage, which is the limit fixed bylaw. The 
colonies of New South Wales and New Zealand have been paying 
annually to these lines ^"37,000 for carrying the mails from Sydney 
and Auckland to San Francisco. The contract under which this 
payment has been made is now about to expire, and those colonies 
have refused to renew the contract unless the United States shall 
pav a more equitable proportion of the whole sum necessary to 
maintain the ser\'ice. 

I am advised by the Postmaster-General that the United States 
receives for carrying the Australian mails, brought to San Francisco 
in these steamers, by rail to Vancouver an estimated annual income 
of $75,000, while, as I have stated, we are paying out for the 
support of the steamship line that brings this mail to us only $46,000, 
leaving an annual surplus, resulting from this service, of $29,000. 
The trade of the United States with Australia, which is in a 
considerable part carried by these steamers, and the whole of which 
is practically dependent upon the mail communication which they 
maintain, is largely in our favor. Our total exports of merchandise 
to Australasian ports during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, 
were $11,266,484, while the total imports of merchandise from these 
ports were only $4,277,676. If we are not willing to see this 
important steamship line withdrawn, or continued with Vancouver 
substituted for San Francisco as the American terminal, Congress 
should put it in the power of the Postmaster-General to make a 
liberal increase in the amount now paid for the transportation of 
this important mail. 

The South Atlantic and Gulf ports occupy a very favored position 
towards the new and important commerce with the reciprocity 
clause of the tariff act and the postal shipping bill are designed to 
promote. Steamship lines from these ports to some northern port 
of South America will almost certainly effect a connection between 
the railroad systems of the continents long before any continuous 
line of railroads can be put into operation. The very large appro- 
priation made at the last session for the harbor of Galveston was 
justified, as it seemed to me, b\- these considerations. The great 
Northwest will feel the advantage of trunk lines to the South as 



§6 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

well as to the East, and of the new markets opened for their surplus 
food products and for many of their manufactured products. 

I had occasion in May last to transmit to Congress a report 
adopted by the International American Conference upon the subject 
of the incorporation of an international American bank, with a 
view to facilitating money exchanges between the states represented 
in that conference. Such an institution would greatly promote the 
trade we are seeking to develop. I renew the recommendation that 
a careful and well-guarded charter be granted. I do not think the 
powers granted should include those ordinarily exercised by trust, 
guaranty, and safe-deposit companies, or that more branches in the 
United States should be authorized than are strictly necessary to 
accomplish the object primarily in view, namely, convenient foreign 
exchanges. It is quite important that prompt action should be 
taken in this matter, in order that any appropriations for better 
communication with these countries, and any agreements that may 
be made for reciprocal trade, may not be hindered by the inconven- 
ience of making exchanges through European money centers or 
burdened by the tribute which is an incident of that method of 
business. 

The bill for the relief of the Supreme Court has, after many 
years of discussion, reached a position where final action is easily 
attainable, and it is hoped that any differences of opinion may be 
so harmonized as to save the essential features of this very 
important measure. In this connection I earnesth- renew my recom- 
mendation that the salaries of the judges of the United States district 
courts be so readjusted that none of them shall receive less than 
$5,000 per annum. 

The subject of the unadjusted Spanish and IMexican land grants 
and the urgent necessity for providing some commission or tribunal 
for the trial of questions of title growing out of them were twice 
brought by me to the attention of Congress at the last session. Bills 
have been reported from the proper committees in both Houses upon 
the subject, and I very earnestly hope that this Congress will put an 
end to the delay which has attended the settlement of the disputes 
as to title between the settlers and the claimants under these grants. 
These disputes retard the prosperity and disturb the peace of large 
and important communities. The governor of New Mexico, in his 
last report to the Secretary of the Interior, suggests some modifica- 
tions of the provisions of the pending bills relating to the small 
holdings of farm lands. I commend to your attention the sugges- 
tions of the Secretary of the Interior upon this subject. 

The enactment of a national bankrupt law I still regard as very 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 87 

desirable. The Constitution having given to Congress jurisdiction 
of this subject, it should be exercised, and uniform rules provided 
for the administration of the affairs of insolvent debtors. The incon- 
veniences resulting from the occasional and temporary exercise of 
this power by Congress, and from the conflicting State codes of 
insolvency which come into force intermediately, should be removed 
by the enactment of a simple, inexpensive, and permanent national 
bankrupt law. 

I also renew my recommendation in favor of legislation aflfbrding 
just copyright protection to foreign authors, on a footing of recip- 
rocal advantage for our authors abroad. 

It mav still be possible for this Congress to inaugurate, by suita- 
ble legislation, a movement looking to uniformity and increased 
safety in the use of couplers and brakes upon freight trains engaged 
in interstate commerce. The chief difficulty in the way is to secure 
agreement as to the best appliances, simplicity, effectiveness, and 
cost being con.sidered. This difficulty will only yield to legislation, 
which should be based upon full inquiry and impartial tests. The 
purpose should be to secure the cooperation of all well-disposed 
managers and owners, but the fearful fact that every year's delay 
involves the sacrifice of two thousand lives and the maiming of twenty 
thousand young men should plead both with Congress and the 
managers against any needless delay. 

The subject of the conservation and equal distribution of the 
water supply of the arid regions has had much attention from 
Congress, but has not as yet been put upon a permanent and satis- 
factory basis. The urgency of the subject does not grow out of any 
large present demand for the use of these lands for agriculture, but 
out of the danger that the water supply and the sites for the neces- 
sary catch-basins may fall into the hands of individuals or private 
corporations and be used to render subservient the large areas 
dependent upon such supply. The owner of the water is the owner 
of the lands, however the titles may run. All unappropriated 
natural water sources and all necessary reservoir sites should be held 
by the Government for the equal use, at fair rates, of the homestead 
settlers who will eventually take up these lands. The United 
States should not, in uiy opinion, undertake the construction of 
dams or canals, but should limit its work to such surveys and 
observations as will determine the water supply, both surface and 
subterranean, the areas capable of irrigation, and the location and 
storage capacity of reservoirs. This done, the use of the water and 
of the reservoir sites might be granted to the respective States or 
Territories, or to individuals or associations upon the condition that 



88 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

the necessary works should be constructed and the water furnished 
at fair rates, without discrimination, the rates to be subject to 
supervision by the legislatures or by boards of water commissioners 
duly constituted. The essential thing to be secured is the common 
and equal use at fair rates of the accumulated water supply. It 
were almost better that these lands should remain arid than that 
those who occupy them should become the slaves of unrestrained 
monopolies controlling the one essential element of land values and 
crop results. 

The use of the telegraph by the Post-Office Department as a 
means for the rapid transmission of written communications is, I 
believe, upon proper terms quite desirable. The Government does 
not own or operate the railroads, and it should not, I think, own or 
operate the telegraph lines. It does, however, seem to be quite 
practicable for the Government to contract with the telegraph 
companies, as it does with the railroad companies, to carry at 
specified rates such communications as the senders may designate 
for this method of transmission. I recommend that such legislation 
be enacted as will enable the Post-Oflfice Department fairly to test 
by experiment the advantages of such a use of the telegraph. 

If any intelligent and loyal company of American citizens were 
required to catalogue the essential human conditions of national 
life, I do not doubt that with absohite unanimity they would begin 
with "free and honest elections." And it is gratifying to know 
that generally there is a growing and nonpartisan demand for 
better election laws. But against this sign of hope and progress 
must be set the depressing and undeniable fact that election laws 
and methods are sometimes cunningly contrived to secure minority 
control, while violence completes the shortcomings of fraud. 

In my last annual message I suggested that the development of 
the existing law providing a Federal supervision of Congressional 
elections offered an effective method of reforming these abuses. 
The need of such a law has manifested itself in many parts of the 
country, and its wholesome restraints and penalties will be useful in 
all. The constitutionality of such legislation has been affirmed by 
the Supreme Court. Its probable effectiveness is evidenced by the 
ciiaracter of the opposition that is made to it. It has been denounced 
as if it were a new exercise of Federal power and an invasion of the 
rights of the States. Nothing could be further from the truth. 
Congress has already fixed the time for the election of members of 
Congress. It has declared that votes for members of Congress miist 
be by written or printed ballot ; it has provided for the appointment 
by the circuit courts in certain ca.ses, and upon the petition of a 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 89 

certain number of citizens, of election supervisors, and made it 
their duty to supervise the registration of voters conducted by the 
State officers ; to challenge persons offering to register ; to personally 
inspect and scrutinize the registry lists, and to affix their names 
to the lists for the purpose of identification and the prevention of 
frauds; to attend at elections and remain with the boxes till the 
votes are all cast and counted ; to attach to the registry- lists and 
election returns any statement touching the accuracy and fairness 
of the registry and election, and to take and transmit to the Clerk 
of the House of Representatives an>- evidence of fraudulent practices 
which ma}- be presented to them. The same law provides for the 
appointment of deputy United States nu^rshals to attend at the polls, 
support the supervisors in the discharge of their duties, and to arrest 
persons violating the election laws. The provisions of this familiar 
title of the Revised Statutes have been put into exercise by both the 
great political parties, and in the North as well as in the South, by 
the filing with the court of the petitions required by the law. 

It is not, therefore, a question whether we shall have a Federal 
election law, for we now have one, and have had for nearly twenty 
\ears, but whether we shall have an effective law. The present 
law stops just short of effectiveness, for it surrenders to the local 
authorities all control over the certification which establishes the 
prima facie right to a .seat in the Hou.se of Representatives. This 
defect .should be cured. Equality of representation and the jwrity 
of the electors must be maintained, or everything that is valuable 
in our system of government is lost. The qualifications of an 
elector must be sought in the law, not in the opinions, prejudices, 
or fears of any class, liowe\-er powerful. The path of the elector 
to the ballot-box must be free from the ambush of fear and the 
enticements of fraud ; the count .so true and open that none shall 
gain.say it. Such a law should be absolutely nonpartisan and 
impartial. It .should give the advantage to honesty and the control 
to majorities. Surely there is nothing sectional about this creed, 
and, if it shall happen that the penalties of laws intended to enforce 
these rights fall here and not there, it is not because the law is 
sectional, but because, happily, crime is local and not universal. Nor 
should it be forgotten that every law, whether relating to elections 
or to any other subject, whether enacted by the State or by the 
Nation, has force behind it ; the courts, the marshal or constable, the 
pos.se comitatus, the prison, are all and always behind the law. 

One can not be ju.stly charged with unfriendliness to any section 
or class who .seeks only to restrain violations of law and of personal 
right. No community will find lawlessness profitable. No com- 



go Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

inunity can afford to have it known that the officers who are charged 
with the preservation of the public peace and the restraint of the 
criminal classes are themselves the product of fraud or violence. 
The magistrate is then without respect and the law without sanction. 
The floods of lawlessness can not be leveed and made to run in one 
channel. The killing of a United States marshal carrying a writ of 
arrest for an election offense is full of prompting and suggestion to 
men who are pursued by a city marshal for a crime against life or 
property. ■ 

But it is said that this legislation will revive race animosities, and 
some have even suggested that when the peaceful methods of fraud 
are made impossible they may be supplanted by intimidation and 
violence. If the proposed law gives to any qualified elector by a 
hair's weight more than his equal influence, or detracts by so much 
from any other qualified elector, it is fatally impeached. But, if the 
law is equal and the animosities it is to evoke grow out of the fact 
that some electors have been accustomed to exercise the franchise 
for others as well as for tliemselves, then these animosities ought not 
to be confessed without shame, and can not be given any weight in 
the discussion without dishonor. No choice is left to me but to 
enforce with vigor all laws intended to secure to the citizen his 
constitutional rights, and to recommend that the inadequacies of 
such laws be promptly remedied. If to promote with zeal and ready 
interest every project for the development of its material interests, 
its rivers, harbors, mines, and factories, and the intelligence, peace, 
and security under the law of its communities and its homes, is not 
accepted as sufficient evidence of friendliness to any State or section, 
I can not add connivance at election practices that not only disturb 
local results, but rob the electors of other States and sections of 
their most priceless political rights. 

The preparation of the general appropriation bills should be 
conducted with the greatest care and the closest scrutiny of expend- 
itures. Appropriations shotild be adequate to the needs of the 
public service, but they should be absolutely free from prodigality. 

I venture again to remind you that the brief time remaining 
for the consideration of the important legislation now awaiting 
your attention offers no margin for waste. If the present duty is 
discharged with diligence, fidelity, and courage, the work of the 
Fifty-first Congress may be confidently submitted to the considerate 
judgment of the people. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

December i, 1890. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 91 

III. 

DECEMBER 9, 1891. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

The reports of the heads of the several Executive Departments, 
required by law to be sulunitted to nie, which are herewith trans- 
mitted, and the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury and the 
Attornev-General, made directh- to Congress, furnish a comprehen- 
sive view of the administrative work of the last fiscal year relating 
to internal affairs. It would be of great advantage if these reports 
could have an attentive perusal by every member of Congress and 
by all who take an interest in public affairs. Such a perusal could 
not fail to excite a higher appreciation of the vast labor and 
conscientious effort which are given to the conduct of our civil 
administration. 

The reports will, I believe, show that e\'ery question has been 
approached, considered, and decided from the standpoint of public 
dill's' and upon considerations affecting the public interests alone. 
Again I invite to every branch of the service the attention and 
scrutiiu' of Congress. 

The work of the State Department during the last year has been 
cliaracterized by an unusual number of important negotiations and 
by diplomatic results of a notable and highly beneficial character. 
Among these are the reciprocal trade arrangements which have 
been concluded, in the exercise of the powers conferred In- section 
3 of the tariff law, with the Republic of Brazil, with Spain for its 
West India possessions, and with San Domingo. Like negotiations 
with other countries have been much advanced, and it is hoped 
that before the close of the year further definitive trade arrange- 
ments of great value will be concluded. 

In view of the reports which had been received as to tlie diminu- 
tion of the seal herds in the Bering Sea, I deemed it wise to propose 
to Her Majesty's Government in February last that an agreement 
for a closed season should be made, pending the negotiations for 
arbitration, which then seemed to be approaching a favorable con- 
clusion. After much correspondence, and delays for which this 
Government was not responsible, an agreement was reached and 
signed on the 15th of June, b\' which Great Britain undertook, 
from that date and until Ma}- i, 1892, to prohibit the killing b\- her 
subjects of seals in the I'ering Sea, and the Government of the 
United States, during the same period, to enforce its existing pro- 



92 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

hibition against pelagic sealing and to limit the catch by the Fur- 
Seal Company upon the islands to 7,500 skins. If this agreement 
conld have been reached earlier, in response to the strenuous 
endeavors of this Government, it would have been more effective; 
but, coming even as late as it did, it unquestionably resulted in 
greatly diminishing the destruction of the seals by the Canadian 
sealers. 

In my last annual message I stated that the basis of arbitration 
proposed by Her Alajesty's Government for the adjustment of the 
long-pending controversy as to the seal fisheries was not acceptable. 
I am glad now to be able to announce that terms satisfactory to 
this Government have been agreed upon and that an agreement as 
to the arbitrators is all that is necessary to the couipletiou of the 
convention. In view of the advanced position which this Govern- 
ment has taken upon the subject of international arbitration, this 
renewed expression of our adherence to this method for the settle- 
ment of disputes such as have arisen in the Bering Sea will, I doubt 
not, meet with the concurrence of Congress. 

Provision should be made for a joint demarkation of the frontier 
line between Canada and the United States, wherever required by 
the increasing border settlements, and especially for the exact 
location of the water boundary in the straits and rivers. 

I .should have been glad to announce some favorable disposition 
of the boundary dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela, touch- 
ine the western frontier of British Guiana, but the friendlv efforts 
of the United States in that direction have thus far been unavailing. 
This Government will continue to express its concern at any 
appearance of foreign encroachment on territories long under the 
administrative control of American states. The determination of 
a disputed boundary is easih- attainable by amicable arbitration, 
where the rights of the respective parties rest, as here, on historic 
facts, readily ascertainable. 

The law of the last Congress providing a system of inspection 
for our meats intended for export and clothing the President with 
power to exclude foreign products from our market in case the 
country sending them should perpetuate unjust discriminations 
against any product of the United States, placed this Government 
in a position to effectively urge the removal of such discriminations 
against our meats. It is gratifying to be able to state that Ger- 
many, Denmark, Italy, Austria, and France, in the order named, 
have opened their ports to inspected American pork products. The 
removal of these restrictions in every instance was asked for and 
given solely upon the ground that we had now provided a meat 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjaiiiiii Harrison. 93 

inspection that should be accepted as adequate to the complete 
removal of the dangers, real or fancied, which had been previously 
urged. The vState Department, our ministers abroad, and the 
vSecretary of Agriculture have cooperated with unflagging and 
intelligent zeal for the accomplishment of this great result. The 
outlines of an agreement have been reached with (icrmany, looking 
to equitable trade concessions in consideration of the continued free 
importation of her sugars; but the time has not yet arrived when 
this correspondence can be submitted to Congress. 

The recent political disturbances in the Republic of Brazil have 
excited regret and solicitude. The information we possessed was 
too meager to enable us to form a satisfactory judgment of the causes 
leading to the temporary assumption of supreme power by President 
Fonseca; but this Government did not fail to express to him its 
anxious solicitude for the peace of Brazil and for the maintenance 
of the free political institutions which had recently been established 
there, nor to offer our advice that great moderation should be 
observed in the clash of parties and tlie contest for leadership. 
These counsels were received in the most friendly spirit, and the 
latest information is that constitutional government has been 
reestablished without bloodshed. 

The lynching at New Orleans in March last of eleven men of 
Italian nativity by a mob of citizens was a most deplorable and 
discreditable incident. It did not, however, have its origin in any 
general animosit}- to the Italian people, nor in any disrespect to the 
Government of Italy, with which our relations were of the most 
friendly character. The fury of the mob was directed against these 
men as che supposed participants or accessories in the murder of a 
city officer. I do not allude to this as mitigating in any degree 
this offense against law and humanity, but only as affecting the 
international questions which grew out of it. It was at once repre- 
sented by the Italian minister that several of those whose lives had 
been taken by the mob were Italian subjects, and a demand was 
made for the punishment of the participants and for an indemnity 
to the families of those who were killed. It is to be regretted that 
the manner in which these claims were presented was not such as 
to promote a calm discussion of the questions involved; but this 
may well be attributed to the excitement and indignation which 
the crime naturally evoked. The views of this Government as to 
its obligations to foreigners domiciled here were fully stated in the 
correspondence, as well as its purpose to make an investigation of 
the affair with a view to determine whether there were present any 
circumstances that could, under such rules of duty as we had 



94 Public Papers and Addresses of Bciijamiii Harrison. 

indicated, create an obligation upon the United States. The 
temporary absence of a minister plenipotentiary of Italy at this 
capital has retarded the further correspondence, but it is not doubted 
that a friendly conclusion is attainable. 

Some suggestions growing out of this unhappy incident are 
worthy the attention of Congress. It would, I believe, be entirely 
competent for Congress to make offenses against the treaty rights 
of foreigners domiciled in the United States cognizable in the 
Federal courts. This has not, however, been done, and the Federal 
officers and courts have no power in such cases to intervene either 
for the protection of a foreign citizen or foi the punishment of his 
slayers. It seems to me to follow, in this state of the law, that the 
officers of the State charged with police and judicial powers in such 
cases must, in the consideration of international questions growing 
out of such incidents, be regarded in such sense as Federal agents 
as to make this Government answerable for their acts in cases 
where it would be answerable if the United States had used its 
constitutional power to define and punish crimes against treaty 
rights. 

The civil war in Chile, which began in January last, was con- 
tinued, but fortuuately with infrequent and not important armed 
collisions, until August 28, when the Congressional forces landed 
near Valparaiso and, after a bloody engagement, captured that city. 
President Balmaceda at once recognized that his cause was lost, and 
a provisional government was speedily established by the victorious 
party. Our minister was promptly directed to recognize and put 
himself in communication with this Government so soon as it should 
have established its de facto character, which was done. During the 
pendency of the civil contest frequent indirect appeals were made 
to this Government to extend belligerent rights to the insurgents 
and to give audience to their representatives. This was declined, 
and that policy was pursued throughout which this Government, 
when wrenched by civil war, so strenuously insisted upon on the 
part of European nations. The Itata, an armed vessel commanded 
by a naval officer of the insurgent fleet, manned by its sailors and 
with soldiers on board, was seized under process of the United States 
court at San Diego, California, for a violation of our neutrality 
laws. While in the custody of an officer of the court the vessel was 
forcibly wrested from his control and put to sea. It would have 
been inconsistent with the dignity and self-respect of this Govern- 
ment not to have insisted that the Uata should be returned to San 
Diego to abide the judgment of the court. This was so clear to the 
Junta of the Congressional party, established at Iquique, that before 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Jfarrison. 95 

the arrival of the I/a/a at that port tlie .secretary of forei^ni relations 
of the provisional government addressed to Rear-Admiral Brown, 
commanding the United States naval forces, a comnuinication, from 
which the following is an extract : 

The Provisional Government has learned liy the cablegrams of the Associated Press 
that the transport Ilala, detained in San Diego by order of the United States for taking 
on board munitions of war and in possession of the marshal, left the port, carrying on 
board this official, who was landed at a point near the coast, and then continued her 
voyage. * * * If this news be correct, this Government would deplore the conduct 
of the /lata, and as an evidence that it is not di.sposed to support oragree to the infraction 
of the laws of the United States, the undersigned takes advantage of the personal 
relations you have been good enough to maintain with him since your arrival in this 
port to declare to you that as soon as she is within reach of our orders his Government 
will put the Itafa, with the arms and munitions she took on board in San Diego, at the 
disposition of the United States. 

A trial in the district conrt of the United States for the southern 
district of California has recently resulted in a decision holding, 
among other things, that, inasmuch as the Congressional party had 
not been recognized as a belligerent, the acts done in its interest 
could not be a violation of our neutrality laws. From this judgment 
the United States has appealed, not that the condemnation of the 
vessel is a matter of importance, but that we may know what the 
present state of our law is ; for, if this construction of the statute is 
correct, there is obvious necessity for revision and amendment. 

During the progress of the war in Chile this Government tendered 
its good offices to bring about a peaceful adjustment, and it was at 
one time hoped that a good result might be reached ; but in this we 
were disappointed. 

The instructions to our naval officers and to our minister at • 
Santiago, from the first to the last of this struggle enjoined upon 
them the most impartial treatment and absolute noninterference. 
I am satisfied that these instructions were observed and that our 
representatives were always watchful to use their influence impar- 
tially in the interest of humanity, and, on more than one occasion, did 
so effectively. We cotrld not forget, however, that this Government 
was in diplomatic relations with the then established Government 
of Chile, as it is now in such relations with the successor of that 
Government. I am quite sure tliat President ^lontt, who has 
under circumstances of promise for tlie peace of Chile, been 
installed as President of that Republic, will not desire that, in the 
unfortunate event of an\- revolt ^igainst his authority, the policy of 
this Government should be other than that which we have recently 
observed. No official complaint of the conduct of our minister or 
of our naval officers during the struggle has been presented to this 
Government ; and it is a matter of regret that so manv of our own 



96 Public Papers and Addresses of Beujamiii Harrison. 

people should have given ear to unofficial chargLS and complaints 
that manifestly had their origin in rival interests and in a wish to 
pervert the relations of the United States with Chile. 

The collapse of the government of Balmaceda brought about a 
condition which is unfortunately too familiar in the history of the 
Central and South American states. With the overthrow of the 
Balmaceda government, he and many of his councilors and officers 
became at once fugitives for their lives and appealed to the com- 
manding officers of the foreign naval vessels in the harbor of 
Valparaiso and to the resident foreign ministers at Santiago for 
asylum. This asylum was freely given, according to my informa- 
tion, by the naval vessels of several foreign powers and by several 
of the legations at Santiago. The American minister, as well as 
his colleagues, acting upon the impulses of humanity, extended 
asylum to political refugees whose lives were in peril. I have not 
been willing to direct the surrender of such of these persons as are 
still in the American legation without suitable conditions. 

It is believed that the Government of Chile is not in a position, 
in view of the precedents with which it has been connected, to 
broadly deny the right of asylum, and the correspondence has not 
thus far presented any such denial. The treatment of our minister 
for a time was such as to call for a decided protest, and it was 
very gratifying to observe that unfriendly measures, which were 
undoubtedly the result of the prevailing excitement, were at once 
rescinded or suitably relaxed. 

On the i6th of October an event occurred in Valparaiso so serious 
and tragic in its circumstances and results as to very justly excite 
the indignation of our people and to call for prompt and decided 
action on the part of this Government. A considerable number 
of the .sailors of the U. S. S. Baltimore, then in the harbor of 
Valparaiso, being upon shore-leave and unarmed, were assaulted by 
armed men nearly simultaneously in different localities in the city.- 
One petty officer was killed outright and seven or eight seamen 
were seriously wounded, one of whom has since died. So savage 
and brutal was the assault that several of our sailors received 
more than two, and one as many as eighteen, stab wounds. An 
investigation of the affair was promptly made by a board of officers 
of the Baltimore, and their report shows that these assaults were 
unprovoked, that our men were conducting themselves in a peace- 
able and orderly manner, and that some of the police of the city 
took part in the assault and used their weapons with fatal effect, 
while a few others, with some well-disposed citizens, endeavored to 
protect our men. Thirty-six of our sailors were arrested, and some 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 97 

of them, while being taken to prison, were crnelly beaten and 
maltreated. The fact that they were all discharged, no criminal 
charge being lodged against any one of them, shows very clearly that 
they were innocent of any breach of tlie peace. 

So far as I have yet been able to learn no other explanation of 
this bloody work has been snggested than that it had its origin in 
hostilit\' to these men as sailors of the United vStates, wearino- the 
uniform of their Government, and not in any individual act or 
personal animosity. The attention of the Chilean Government was 
at once called to this affair, and a statement of the facts obtained 
by the investigation we had conducted was submitted, accompanied 
by a request to be advised of any other or qualifying facts in the 
possession of the Chilean government that might tend to relieve 
this affair of the appearance of an insult to this Government. 
The Chilean Government was also advised that if such qualifying 
facts did not exist this Government would confidently expect full 
and prompt reparation. 

It is to be regretted that the repl\- of the secretary for foreign 
affairs of the Provisional Government was couched in an oflfensive 
tone. To this no response has been made. This Government 
is now awaiting the result of an investigation which has been 
conducted by the criminal court at Valparaiso. It is reported unoffi- 
cially that the investigation is about completed, and it is expected 
that the result will soon be communicated to tliis Government, 
together with some adequate and satisfactory response to the note 
by which the attention of Chile was called to this incident. If 
these just expectations should be disappointed or further needless 
delay intervene, I will, by a special message, bring this matter again 
to the attention of Congress for such action as may be necessary. 

The entire correspondence with the Government of Chile will at 
an early day be submitted to Congress. 

I renew the recommendation of my special message, dated January 
16, 1S90, for the adoption of the necessary legislation to enable this 
Government to apply in the case of Sweden and Norway the same 
rule in respect to the levying of tonnage dues as was claimed and 
secured to the shipping of the United States in 1828 under article 8 
of the treaty of 1827. 

The adjournment of the Senate without action on the pending 
acts for the suppression of the slave traffic in Africa and for the 
reform of the revenue tariff of the independent State of the Congo 
left this Government unable to exchange those acts on the date 
fixed, July 2, 1891. A modus vivcndi has been concluded by 
which the power of the Congo State to levy duties on imports is left 
15151 7 



q8 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

unimpaired, and, by agreement of all the signatories to the general 
slave-trade act, the time for the exchange of ratifications on the 
part of the United States has been extended to February 2, 1892. 

The late outbreak against foreigners in various parts of the Chinese 
Empire has been a cause of deep concern in view of the numerous 
establishments of our citizens in the interior of that country. This 
Government can do no less than insist upon a continuance of the 
protective and punitory measures which the Chinese Government 
has heretofore applied. No effort will be omitted to protect our 
citizens peaceably sojourning in China, but recent unofficial infor- 
mation indicates that what was at first regarded as an outbreak 
of mob violence against foreigners has assumed the larger form of 
an insurrection against public order. 

The Chinese Government has declined to receive Mr. Blair as the 
minister of the United States on the ground that, as a participant, 
while a Senator, in the enactment of the existing legislation against 
the introduction of Chinese laborers, he has become unfriendly and 
objectionable to China. I have felt constrained to point out to the 
Chinese Government the untenableness of this position, which seems 
to rest as much on the unacceptability of our legislation as on that 
of the person chosen, and which, if admitted, would practically debar 
the selection of any representative so long as the existing laws remain 

in force. 

You will be called upon to consider the expediency of making 
special provision by law for the temporary admission of some 
Chinese artisans and laborers in connection with the exhibit of 
Chinese industries at the approaching Columbian Exposition. I 
regard it as desirable that the Chinese exhibit be facilitated in every 
proper way. 

A question has arisen with the Government of Spain touching the 
rio-hts of American citizens in the Caroline Islands. Our citizens 
there, long prior to the confirmation of Spain's claim to the islands, 
had secured by settlement and purchase certain rights, to the 
recognition and maintenance of which the faith of Spain was 
pledged. I have had reason within the past year very strongly to 
protest against the failure to carry out this pledge on the part 
of His Majesty's ministers, which has resulted in great injustice 
and injury to the American residents. 

The Government and people of Spain propose to celebrate the 
four hundredth anniversary of the discovery- of America by holding 
an exposition at Madrid, which will open on the 12th of September 
and continue until the 31st of December, 1S92. A cordial invitation 
has been extended to the United States to take part in this com- 



Piihlic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin I/ai rison. 99 

memoration, and, as Spain was one of the first nations to express 
the intention to participate in the World's Columbian Exposition at 
Chicago, it would be very appropriate for this Government to give 
this invitation its friendly promotion. 

Surveys for the connecting links of the projected Intercontinental 
Railway are in progress, not only in Mexico, but at various points 
along the course mapped out. Three surveying parties are now in 
the field under the direction of the commission. Nearly 1,000 miles 
of the proposed road have been surveyed, including the most difificult 
part, that through Ecuador and the southern part of Colombia. 
The reports of the engineers are very satisfactory and show that no 
insurmountable obstacles have been met with. 

On November 12, 1884, a treaty was concluded with Mexico 
reafl!irming the boundary between the two countries as described in 
the treaties of February 2, 1848, and December 30, 1853. March i, 
1889, a further treaty was negotiated to facilitate the carrying out 
of the principlas of the treaty of 1S84 and to avoid the difficulties 
occasioned by reason of the changes and alterations tliat take place 
from natural causes in the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers in the 
portions thereof constituting the boundary line between the two 
Republics. The International Boundary Commission, provided for 
by the treaty of 1889, to have exclusive jurisdiction of any question 
that may arise, has been named by the Mexican Government. An 
appropriation is necessary to enable the United States to fulfill its 
treaty obligation in this respect. 

The death of King Kalakaua in the United States afforded 
occasion to testify our friendship for Hawaii by conve^'ing the 
King's body to his own land in a naval vessel with all due honors. 
The Government of his successor. Queen Lilioukalani, is seeking 
to promote closer commercial relations with the United States. 
Surveys for the much-needed submarine cable from our Pacific 
Coast to Honolulu are in progress, and this enterprise should 
have the suitable promotion of the two Governments. I strongly 
recommend that provision be made for improving the harbor of 
Pearl River and equipping it as a naval station. 

The arbitration treaty formulated by the International American 
Conference lapsed by reason of the failure to exchange ratifications 
fully within the limit of time provided; but several of the Govern- 
ments concerned have expressed a desire to save this important 
result of the conference by an extension of the period. It is, in my 
judgment, incumbent upon tlie United States to conserve the 
influential initiative it has taken in this measure by ratifying the 
instrument and by advocating the propo.sed extension of the time for 



lOO 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 



exchange. These views have been made known to the other 
signatories. 

This Government has found occasion to express, in a friendly 
spirit, but with much earnestness, to the Government of the Czar, 
its serious concern because of the harsh measures now being 
enforced against the Hebrews in Russia. By the revival of anti- 
Semitic laws, long in abeyance, great numbers of those unfortunate 
people have been constrained to abandon their homes and leave the 
Empire by reason of the impossibility of finding subsistence within 
the pale to which it is sought to confine them. The immigration 
of these people to the United States — many other countries being 
closed to them — is largely increasing and is likely to assume 
proportions which may make it difficult to find homes and employ- 
ment for them here and to seriously affect the labor market. It is 
estimated that over 1,000,000 will be forced from Russia within 
a few years. The Hebrew is never a beggar; he has always kept 
the law — life by toil — often under severe and oppressive civil 
restrictions. It is also true that no race, sect, or class has more fully 
cared for its own than the Hebrew race. But the sudden transfer 
of such a multitude, under conditions that tend to strip them of 
their small accumulations and to depress their energies and courage, 
is neither good for them nor for us. 

The banishment, whether by direct decree or by not less certain 
indirect methods, of so large a number of men and women is not a 
local question. A decree to leave one country is, in the nature of 
things, an order to enter another — some other. This consideration, 
as well as the suggestions of humanity, furnishes ample ground for 
the remonstrances which we have presented to Russia, while our 
historic friendship for that Government can not fail to give the 
assurance that our representations are those of a sincere wellwisher. 

The annual report of the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua 
shows that much costly and necessary preparatory work has been 
done during the year in the construction of shops, railroad tracks, 
and harbor piers and breakwaters, and that the work of canal 
construction has made some progress. 

I deem it to be a matter of the highest concern to the United States 
that this canal, connecting the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific 
oceans and giving to us a short-water communication between our 
ports upon those two great seas, should be speedily constructed and 
at the smallest practicable limit of cost. The gain in freights to 
the people and the direct saving to the Government of the United 
States in the use of its naval vessels would pay the entire cost of 
this work within a short series of years. The report of the 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjaiiiin Ifarrisoii. loi 

Secretary of the Navy shows the saving in onr naval expenditnres 
which wonld result. 

The Senator from Alabama (Mr Morgan), in his argument upon 
this subject before the Senate at the last session, did not overesti- 
mate the importance of this work when he said that "the canal is 
the most important subject now connected with the commercial 
growth and progress of the United vStates. " 

If this work is to be promoted b}- the usual financial methods 
and without the aid of this Government, the expenditures, in its 
interest-bearing securities and stocks, will probably be twice the 
actual cost. This will necessitate higher tolls and constitute a 
heavy and altogether needless burden upon our commerce and that 
of the world. Every dollar of the bonds and stock of the company 
should represent a dollar expended in the legitimate and economical 
prosecution of the work. This is only possible by giving to the 
bonds the guaranty of the United States Government. Such a 
guaranty would secure the ready .sale at par of a 3-per-cent bond, 
from time to time, as the money was needed. I do not doubt that, 
built upon these business methods, the canal would, when fully 
inaugurated, earn its fixed charges and operating expenses. But if 
its bonds are to be marketed at heavy discounts and every bond 
sold is to be accompanied by a gift of stock, as has come to be 
expected by investors in such enterprises, the traffic will be seriously 
btirdened to pa}- interest and dividends. I am quite willing to 
recommend Government promotion in the prosecution of a work 
which, if no other means offered for securing its completion, is of 
such transcendent interest that the Government should, in my 
opinion, secure it by direct appropriations from its treasury. 

A guarantv of the bonds of the canal company to an amount 
necessary to the completion of the canal could, I think, be so given 
as not to involve any serious risk of ultimate loss. The things 
to be carefully guarded are the completion of the work within 
the limits of the guaranty, the subrogation of the United States to 
the rights of the first-mortgage bondholders for any amounts it 
may have to pay, and in the meantime a control of the stock of the 
company as a security against mismanagement and loss. I most 
sincerely hope that neither party nor sectional lines will be drawn 
upon this great American project, so full of interest to the people of 
all our States and so influential in its effects upon the prestige 
and prosperity of our common country. 

The island of Navassa, in the West Indian group, has, under the 
provisions of title 72 of the Revised Statutes, been recognized by 
the President as appertaining to the United States. It contains 



102 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

guano deposits, is owned by the Navassa Pliosphate Company, 
and is occupied solely by its employes. In September, 1889, a 
revolt took place among these laborers, resulting in the killing of 
some of the agents of the company, caused, as the laborers claimed, 
by cruel treatment. These men were arrested and tried in the 
United States court at Baltimore, under section 5576 of the statute 
referred to, as if the offenses had been committed on board a 
merchant vessel of the United States on the high seas. There 
appeared on the trial, and otherwise came to me, such evidences of 
the bad treatment of the men that, in consideration of this and of 
the fact that the men had no access to any public officer or tribunal 
for protection or the redress of their wrongs, I commuted the 
death sentences that had been passed by the court upon three of 
them. In April last my attention was again called to this island, 
and to the unregulated condition of things there, by a letter from a 
colored laborer, who complained that he was wrongfully detained 
upon the island by the phosphate company after the expiration 
of his contract of service. A naval vessel was sent to examine 
into the case of this man and generally into the condition of things 
on the island. It was found that the laborer teferred to had been 
detained beyond the contract limit and that a condition of revolt 
again existed among the laborers. A board of naval officers 
reported, among other things, as follows : 

We would desire to state further that the discipline maintained on the island seems 
to be that of a convict establishment, without its comforts and cleanliness, and that, 
until more attention is paid to the shipping of laborers, by placing it under Government 
supervision to prevent misunderstanding and misrepresentation, and until some 
amelioration is shown in the treatment of the laborers, these disorders will be of 
constant occurrence. 

I recommend legislation that shall place labor contracts upon this 
and other islands having the relation that Navassa has to the United 
States under the supervision of a court commissioner, and that shall 
provide, at the expense of the owners, an officer to reside upon the 
islands, with power to judge and adjust disputes and to enforce 
a just and humane treatment of the employes. It is inexcusable 
that American laborers should be left within our own jurisdiction 
without access to any Government officer or tribunal for their pro- 
tection and the redress of their wrongs. 

International copyright has been secured, in accordance with the 
conditions of the act of March 3, 1891, with Belgium, France, Great 
Britain and the British possessions, and Switzerland, the laws of 
those countries permitting to our citizens the benefit of copyright 
ou substantially the same basis as to their own citizens or subjects. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 103 

With Germany a special convention has been negotiated npon this 
subject, whicli will bring that country within the reciprocal benefits 
of our legislation. 

The general interest in the operations of the Treasury Department 
has been much augmented during the last year by reason of the 
conflicting predictions, which accompanied and followed the tariff 
and other legislation of the last Congress affecting the revenues, as 
to the results of this legislation upon the Treasury and upon the 
country. On the one hand it was contended that imports would so 
fall off as to leave the Treasury l)ankrupt, and that the prices of 
articles entering into the living of the people would be so enhanced 
as to disastrously affect their comfort and happiness, while on the 
other it was argued that the loss to the revenue, largely the result of 
placing sugar on the free list, would be a direct gain to the people; 
that the prices of the necessaries of life, including those most highly 
protected, would not be enhanced ; that labor would have a larger 
market and the products of the farm advanced prices ; while the 
Treasur>' surplus and receipts would be adequate to meet the 
appropriations, including the large exceptional expenditures for the 
refunding to the States of the direct tax and tlie redemption of the 
\y, per cent bonds. 

It is not my purpose to enter at any length into a discussion of 
the effects of the legislation to which I have referred ; but a brief 
examination of the statistics of the Treasury and a general glance 
at the state of business throughout the country will, I think, satisfy 
any impartial inquirer that its results have disappointed the evil 
prophecies of its opponents and in a large measure realized the 
hopeful predictions of its friends. Rarely, if ever before, in the 
history of the country has there been a time when the proceeds of 
one day's labor or the product of one farmed acre would purchase 
so large an amount of those things that enter into the living of the 
nia.sses of the people. I believe that a full test will develop the fact 
that the tariff act of the Fifty-first Congress is very favorable in its 
average effect upon the prices of articles entering into common use. 

During the twelve months from October i, 1890, to September 
30, 1891, the total value of our foreign commerce (imports and 
exports combined) was $1,747,806,406, which was the largest of any 
year in the history of the United States. The largest in any previous 
year was in 1890, when our commerce amounted to $1,647,139,093, 
and the last year exceeds this enormous aggregate by over one 
hundred millions. It is interesting, and to some will be surprising, 
to know that during the year ending September 30, 1891, our imports 
of merchandise amounted to $824,715,270, which was an increase 



I04 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

of more than $11,000,000 over the value of the imports of the cor- 
responding months of the preceding year, when the imports of 
merchandise were nnnsiially large in anticipation of the tariff legis- 
lation then pending. The average annual value of the imports of 
merchandise for the ten years from 1881 to 1890 was $692,186,522, 
and during the year ending September 30, 1891, this annual average 
was exceeded by $132,528,469. 

The value of free imports during tlie twelve months ending 
September 30, 1891, was $118,092,387 more than the value of free 
imports during the corresponding twelve months of the preceding 
year, and there was during the same period a decrease of $106,846,508 
in the value of imports of dutiable merchandise. The percentage 
of merchandise admitted free of duty during the year to which I have 
referred, the first under the new tariff, was 48.18, while during the 
preceding twelve months, under the old tariff, the percentage was 
34.27, an increase of 13.91 per cent. If we take the six months 
ending September 30 last, which covers the time during which 
sugars have been admitted free of duty, the per cent of value of 
merchandise imported free of duty is found to be 55.37, which is a 
larger percentage of free imports than during any prior fiscal year 
in the history of the Government. 

If we turn to exports of merchandise the statistics are full of 
gratification. The value of such exports of merchandise for the 
twelve months ending September 30, 1891, was $923,091,136, while 
for the corresponding previous twelve months it was $860,177,115, 
an increase of $62,914,021, which is nearly three times the average 
annual increase of exports of merchandise for the preceding twenty 
yeais ; this exceeds in amount and value the exports of merchandise 
during any year in the history of the Government. The increase in 
the value of exports of agricultural products during the year 
referred to over the corresponding twelve months of the prior year 
was $45,846,197, while the increase in the value of exports of 
manufactured products was $16,838,240. 

There is certainly nothing in the condition of trade, foreign 
or domestic, there is certainly nothing in the condition of our 
people of any class, to suggest that the existing tariff and revenue 
legislation bears oppressively upon the people or retards the 
commercial development of the nation. It may be argued that 
our condition would be better if tariff legislation were upon a 
free-trade basis ; but it can not be denied that all the conditions 
of prosperity and of general contentment are present in a larger 
degree than ever before in our history, and that, too, just when 
it was prophesied they would be in tlie worst state. Agitation for 



PubUc Papers and Addresses of Benjaiiiin Harrison. 105 

radical changes in tariff and financial legislation can not help, bnt 
may seriously impede, business, to the prosperity of which some 
degree of stability in legislation is essential. 

I think there are conclusive evidences tliat the new tariff has 
created several great industries which will, within a few years, 
give employment to several hundred thousand American working 
men and women. In \iew of the somewhat overcrowded condition 
of the labor market of the United vStates every patriotic citizen 
should rejoice at such a result. 

The report of the vSecretary of the Treasury shows that the 
total receipts of tiie Government, from all sources, for the fiscal 
year ending June 30, 1891, were $458,544,233.03, while the 
expenditures for the same period were $421,304,470.46, leaving a 
surplus of 137,239,762.57. 

The receipts of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, actual and 
estimated, are $433,000,000 and the expenditures $409,000,000. 
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the estimated receipts are 
#455> 336, 350 and the expenditures $441,300,093. 

Under the law of July 14, 1890, the Secretary of the Treasury has 
purchased (since August 13) during the fiscal year 48,393, 113 ounces 
of silver bullion at an average cost of $1,045 P^r ounce. The highest 
price paid during the year was $1. 2025, and the lowest $0.9636. In 
exchange for this silver bullion there have been issued $50,577,498 
of the Treasury notes authorized by the act. The lowest price of 
silver reached during the fiscal year was $0.9636, on April 22, 1891; 
but on November i the market price was only $0.96, which would 
give to the silver dollar a bullion value of 7414^ cents. 

Before the influence of the prospective silver legislation was felt 
in the market silver was worth in New York about $0,955 P^r ounce. 
The ablest advocates of free coinage in the last Congress were most 
confident in their predictions that the purchases b)- the Government 
required by the law would at once bring the price of .silver to $1.2929 
per ounce, which would make the bullion value of a dollar 100 cents, 
and hold it there. The prophecies of the anti-silver men of disasters 
to result from the coinage of $2,000,000 per month were not wider 
of the mark. The friends of free silver are not agreed, I think, as 
to the causes which l)rought their hopeful predictions to naught. 
Some facts are known. The exports of .silver from London to India 
during the first nine months of this calendar year fell off over 50 
per cent, or $17,202,730, compared with the .same months of the 
preceding year. The exports of domestic silver bullion from this 
country, which had averaged for the last ten years over $17,000,000, 
fell in the last fiscal year to $13,797,391 ; while, for the first time in 



io6 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

recent years, the imports of silver into this conntry exceeded the 
exports by the snm of $2,745,365. In the previous year the net 
exports of silver from the United States amounted to $8,545,455. 
The production of the United States increased from 50,000,000 
ounces in 1889 to 54,500,000 in 1890. The Government is now 
buying and putting aside annually 54,000,000 ounces, which, 
allowing for 7,140,000 ounces of new bullion used in the arts, is 
6,640,000 more than our domestic product available for coinage. 

I hope the depression in the price of silver is temporary and that 
a further trial of this legislation will more favorably affect it. That 
the increased volume of currency thus supplied for the use of the 
people was needed and that beneficial results upon trade and prices 
have followed this legislation I think must be very clear to everyone; 
nor .should it be forgotten that for every dollar of these notes issued 
a full dollar's worth of silver bullion is at the time deposited in the 
Treasury as a security for its redemption. Upon this subject, as 
upon the tariff, my recommendation is that the existing laws be 
given a full trial and that our business interests be spared the 
distressing influence which threats of radical changes always 
impart. Under existing legislation it is in the power of the Treasury 
Department to maintain that essential condition of national finance 
as well as of commercial prosperity — the parity in use of the coin 
dollars and their paper representatives. The assurance that these 
powers would be freely and unhesitatingly used has done much to 
produce and sustain the present favorable business conditions. 

I am still of the opinion that the free coinage of silver under 
existing conditions would disastrously affect our business interests 
at home and abroad. We could not hope to maintain an equality 
in the purchasing power of the gold and silver dollar in our own 
markets, and in foreign trade the stamp gives no added value to the 
bullion contained in coins. The producers of the country, its 
farmers and laborers, have the highest interest that every dollar, 
paper or coin, i.ssued by the Government, shall be as good as any 
other. If there is one less valuable than another its sure and 
constant errand will be to pay them for their toil and for their 
crops. The money-lender will protect himself by stipulating for 
payment in gold, but the laborer has never been able to do that. 
To place business upon a silver basis would mean a sudden and 
severe contraction of the currency, by the withdrawal of gold and 
gold notes, and such an unsettling of all values as would produce a 
commercial panic. I can not believe that a people so strong and 
prosperous as ours will promote such a policy. 

The producers of silver are entitled to just consideration, but 



Public Papers and Addresses of Boi/aniin Harrison. 107 

they should not forget that tlie Government is now Ijuying and 
putting out of tlie market what is tlie equivalent of the entire 
product of our silver mines. This is more than they themsehes 
thought of asking two years ago. I believe it is the earnest desire 
of a great majority of the people, as it is mine, that a full coin 
use shall be made of silver just as soon as the cooperation of other 
nations can be secured and a ratio fixed that will give circulation 
equally to gold and silver. The business of the world requires 
the use of both metals; but I do not see any prospect of gain, but 
much of loss, by giving up the present system, in whicli a full use 
is made of gold and a large use of siher, for one in which silver 
alone will circulate. Such an event would be at once fatal to the 
further progress of the silver movement. Bimetalism is the desired 
end, and the true friends of silver will be careful not to overrun 
the goal and bring in silver monometalism, with its necessar}' 
attendants, the loss of our gold to Europe and the relief of the 
pressure there for a larger currency. I have endeavored by the use 
of official and unofficial agencies to keep a close observation of the 
state of public .sentiment in Europe upon this question, and have 
not found it to be such as to justif\- me in proposing an international 
conference. There is, however, I am sure, a growing sentiment in 
Europe in favor of a larger use of silver, and I know of no more 
effectual way of promoting this sentiment than by accumulating 
gold here. A scarcity of gold in the European reserves will be the 
most persuasive argument for the use of silver. 

The exports of gold to Europe, which began in February last and 
continued until the close of July, aggregated over $70,000,000. The 
net loss of gold during the fiscal year was nearly $68,000,000. That 
no serious monetary disturbance resulted was most gratifying, and 
gave to Europe fresh evidence of the strength and stability of our 
financial institutions. With the movement of crops the outflow 
of gold was speedily stopped, and a return set in. Up to December 
I we had recovered of our gold loss at the port of New York 
$27,854,000, and it is confidently believed that during the winter 
and spring this aggregate will be steadily and largely increased. 

The presence of a large cash surplus in the Treasury has for 
many years been the subject of much unfavorable criticism and has 
furnished an argument to those who have desired to place the tariff 
upon a purely revenue basis. It was agreed by all that the with- 
drawal from circulation of so large an amount of money was an 
embarra.ssment to the business of the country and made necessary 
the intervention of the Department at frequent intervals to relieve 
threatened monetary panics. The sur])lus on March i, 1889, was 



io8 Pithlic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

$183,827,190.29. The policy of applying this surplus to the 
redemption of the interest-bearing securities of the United States 
was thought to be preferable to that of depositing it without interest 
in selected national banks. There have been redeemed since the 
date last mentioned of interest-bearing securities $259,079,350, 
resulting in a reduction of the annual interest charge of $11,684,675. 
The mone\- which had been deposited in banks without interest has 
been gradually withdrawn and used in the redemption of bonds. 

The result of this policy, of the silver legislation, and of the 
refunding of the 41/ per cent bonds has been a large increase of the 
money in circulation. At the date last named the circulation was 
$1,404,205,896, or $23.03 per capita ; while on the 1st day of 
December, 1891, it had increased to $1,577,262,070, or $24.38 per 
capita. The offer of the Secretary of the Treasury to the holders 
of the 4>^ per cent bonds to extend the time of redemption, at the 
option of the Government, at an interest of 2 per cent, was accepted 
by the holders of about one-half the amount, and the unextended 
bonds are being redeemed on presentation. 

The report of the Secretary of War exhibits the results of an 
intelligent, progressive, and business-like administration of a 
department which has been too much regarded as one of mere 
routine. The separation of Secretary Proctor from the Department 
by reason of his appointment as a Senator from the State of Vermont 
is a source of great regret to me and to his colleagues in the Cabinet, 
as I am sure it will be to all those who have had business with the 
Department while under his charge. 

In the administration of army affairs some especially good work 
has been accomplished. The efforts of the Secretary to reduce the 
percentage of desertions by removing the causes that promoted it 
have been so successful as to enable him to report for the last year 
a lower percentage of desertion that has been before reached in the 
history of the Army. The, resulting money saving is considerable, 
but the improvement in the morale of the enlisted men is the most 
valuable incident of the reforms which have brought about this 
result. 

The work of securing sites for shore batteries for harbor defense 
and the manufacture of mortars and guns of high power to equip 
them have made good progress during the year. The preliminary 
work of tests and plans, which so long delayed a start, is now out 
of the way. Some guns have been completed, and with an enlarged 
shop and a more complete equipment at Watervliet the Ami)- will 
will soon be abreast of the Navy in gun construction. Whatever 
unavoidable causes of delav may arise, there should be none from 



Public Papers and .Iddrcsses o/ Be)ija»iin Harrison. log 

dela}-ed or insufficient appropriations. We shall be j^reath- enilsar- 
rassed in the proper distribution and use of na\a] vessels until 
adequate shore defenses are provided for our harbors. 

I concur in the reconnnendation of the Secretary- that the three- 
battalion organization be adopted for the infantry. The adoption 
of a smokeless powder and of a modern rifle equal in range, precis- 
ion, and rapidity of fire to the best now in use will, I hope, not be 
longer delayed. 

The project of enlisting Indians and organizing tliem into sepa- 
rate companies upon the same basis as other soldiers was made the 
subject of very careful study by the Secretary and received my 
approval. Seven companies have been completely organized and 
.seven more are in process of organization. The results of six 
months' training ha\-e more than realized the highest anticipations. 
The men are readily brought under descipline, acquire the drill 
with facility, and show great pride in the right discharge of their 
duties and perfect loyalty to their officers, who declare that they 
would take them into action with confidence. The discipline, 
order and cleanliness of the military posts will have a wholesome 
and elevating influence upon the men enlisted, and through them 
uj^on their tribes, while a more friendly feeling for the whites and 
a greater respect for the Government will certainly be promoted. 

The great work done in the Record and Pension Division of the 
War Department by Alajor Ainsworth, of the Medical Corps, and 
the clerks under him, is entitled to honorable mentinn. Taking 
up the work with nearly 41,000 cases behind, he closed the last 
fiscal )'ear without a single case left o\-er, though the new cases had 
increased 52 per cent in number over the previous vear by reason 
of the pension legislation of the last Congress. 

I concur in the recommendation of the Attorney-General that the 
right in felony cases to a review by the Supreme Court be limited. 
It would seem that jDcrsonal libert\- would have a safe guaranty if 
the right of review in cases involving only fine and imprisonment 
were limited to the circuit court of appeals, unless a constitutional 
question should in some way be involved. 

The judges of the Court of Private Land Claims, provided for 
by the act of March 3, 1S91, have been appointed and the court 
organized. It is now possible to give early relief to communities 
long repressed in their de\-elopment by unsettled land titles and to 
establish the po.ssession and right of settlers whose lands have been 
rendered valueless by adver.se and unfounded claims. 

The act of July 9, 18S8, provided for the incorporation and man- 
agement of a reform school for girls in the District of Columbia ; 



no Public Papers and Addresses of Bcjijaiiiiii Harrison. 

but it has remained inoperative for the reason that no appropriation 
has been made for construction or maintenance. The need of such 
an institution is very urgent. Many girls could be saved from 
depraved lives by the wholesome influences and restraints of sucli a 
school. I recommend that the necessary appropriation be made for 
a site and for construction. 

The enforcement by the Treasury Department of the law pro- 
hibiting the coming of Chinese to the United States has been 
effective as to such as seek to land from vessels entering our ports. 
The result has been to divert the travel to vessels entering the ports 
of British Columbia, whence passage into the United States at 
obscure points along the Dominion boundar)- is easy. A very con- 
siderable number of Chinese laborers have, during the past year, 
entered the United States from Canada and Mexico. 

The officers of the Treasury Department and of the Department 
of Justice have used every means at their command to intercept 
this immigration ; but the impossibility of perfectly guarding our 
extended frontier is apparent. The Dominion Government collects 
a head tax of $50 from every Chinaman entering Canada, and thus 
derives a considerable revenue from those who only use its ports to 
reach a position of advantage to evade our exclusion laws. There 
seems to be satisfactory evidence that the business of passing 
Chinamen through Canada to the United States is organized and 
quite active. The Department of Justice has construed the laws 
to require the return of any Chinaman found to be unlawfully in 
this country to China as the country from which he came, notwith- 
standing the fact that he came by way of Canada ; but several of 
the district courts have, in cases brought before them, overruled 
this view of the law and decided that such persons must be returned 
to Canada. This construction robs the law of all effectiveness, even 
if the decrees could be executed, for the men returned can the next 
day recross ovir border. But the only appropriation made is for 
sending them back to China, and the Canadian officials refuse to 
allow them to reenter Canada without the payment of the $50 head 
tax. I recommend such legislation as will remed)' these defects in 
the law. 

In previous messages I have called the attention of Congress to 
the necessity of so extending the jurisdiction of the United States 
courts as to make triable therein any felony committed while in the 
act of violating a law of the United States. These courts can not 
have that independence and effectiveness which the Constitution 
contemplates so long as the felonious killing of court officers, jurors, 
and witnesses in the discharge of their duties, or by reason of their 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bcnjamiji Harrison. i ii 

acts as such, is only cognizable in the State courts. The work done 
by the Attorney-General and the officers of his Department, even 
under the present inadequate legislation, has produced some notable 
results in the interest of law and order. 

The Attorney-General and also the Commissioners of the District 
of Columbia call attention to the defectiveness and inadequacy of the 
laws relating tu crimes against chastity in the District of Columbia. 
A stringent code upon this subject has been provided by Congress 
for Utah, and it is a matter of surprise that the needs of tliis District 
should have been so long overlooked. 

In the report of the Postmaster-General some very gratifying 
results are exhibited and many betterments of the service suggested. 
A perusal of the report gives abundant evidence that the supervision 
and direction of the postal system have been characterized by an 
intelligent and conscientious desire to improve the service. The 
re\'enues of the Department show an increase of over $5,000,000, 
with a deficiency for the year 1892 of less than $4,000,000, while 
the estimate for the year 1893 shows a surplus of receipts over 
expenditures. 

Ocean-mail post-offices have been established uj^on the steamers 
of the North German Lloyd and Hamburg lines, saving, by the 
distribution on shipboard, from two to fourteen hours' time in the 
delivery of mail at the port of entry and often much more than this 
in the delivery at interior places. vSo thoroughly has this svstem, 
initiated by Germany and the United States, evidenced its useful- 
ness that it can not be long before it is installed upon all the great 
ocean mail-carrying steamships. 

Eight thousand miles of new postal service has been established 
upon railroads, the car distribution to substations in the great cities 
has been increased about 12 per cent, while the percentage of errors 
in distribution has, during the past year, been reduced over one-half 
An appropriation was given by the last Congress for the purpose of 
making some experiments in free delivery in the smaller cities and 
towns. The results of these experiments have been so satisfactory 
that the Postmaster-General recommends, and I concur in the 
recommendation, that the free-delivery system be at once extended 
to towns of 5,000 population. His discussion of the inadequate 
facilities extended under our present system to rural communities 
and his suggestions with a view to give these communities a fuller 
participation in the benefits of the postal .service are worthy of )'our 
careful consideration. It is not just that the farmer, who receives 
his mail at a neighboring town, should not only be compelled to 
send to the post-office for it, but to pay a considerable rent for a 



112 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

box in which to place it or to wait his turn at a general-delivery 
window, while the city resident has his mail brought to his door. 
It is stated that over 54,000 neighborhoods are, under the present 
system, receiving mail at post-offices where money orders and 
postal notes are not issued. The extension of this system to these 
communities is especially desirable, as the patrons of such offices 
are not possessed of the other facilities offered in more populous 
communities for the transmission of small sums of money. 

I have, in a message to the preceding Congress, expressed my 
views as to a modified nse of the telegraph in connection with the 
postal service. 

In pursuance of the ocean-mail law of March 3, 1891, and after a 
most careful study of the whole subject and frequent conferences 
with shipowners, boards of trade, and others, advertisements were 
issued by the Postmaster-General for 53 lines of ocean-mail service: 
10 to Great Britain and the Continent, 27 to Sonth America, 3 to 
China and Japan, 4 to Australia and the Pacific Islands, 7 to the 
West Indies, and 2 to Mexico. It was not, of course, expected that 
bids for all these lines would be received or that service upon them 
all would be contracted for. It was intended, in furtherance of the 
act, to secure as many new lines as possible, while including in the 
list most or all of the foreign lines now occupied by American 
ships. It was hoped that a line to England and perhaps one to the 
Continent would be secured; but the outlay required to equip such 
lines wholly with new ships of the first class and the difficulty of 
establishing new lines in competition with those already established 
deterred bidders whose interest had been enlisted. It is hoped that 
a way may yet be found of overcoming these difficulties. The 
Brazil Steamship Company, by reason of a miscalculation as to the 
speed of its vessels, was not able to bid under the terms of the 
advertisement. The policy of the Department was to secure from 
the established lines an improved service as a condition of giving 
to them the benefits of the law. This in all instances has been 
attained. The Postmaster-General estimates that an expenditure 
in American shipyards of about $10,000,000 will be necessary to 
enable the bidders to construct the ships called for by the service 
which they have accepted. I do not think there is any reason for 
discouragement or for an\- turning back from the policy of this 
legislation. Indeed, a good beginning has been made, and, as the 
subject is further considered and understood by capitalists and 
shipping people, new lines will be ready to meet future proposals, 
and we may date from the pas.sage of this law the revival of Amer- 
ican shipping interests and the recovery of a fair share of the 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bciija/niii IIarriso>i. 113 

carrying trade of the world. We were receiving for foreign postage 
nearly $2,000,000 niider the old system and the outlay for ocean- 
mail service did not exceed #600,000 per annum. It is estimated 
by the Postmaster-General that, if all the contracts proposed are 
completed, it will require $247,354 fo"" this year, in addition to the 
appropriation for sea and inland postage already in the estimates, 
and that for the ne.\t fiscal year, ending June 30, 1893, there would 
probably be needed about $560,000. 

The report of the Secretary of the Navy shows a gratifying 
increase of new naval vessels in commission. The Neivark, Con- 
cord, Renniugloit, and MiantoisoiiinJi have been added during the 
year, with an aggregate of something more than 11,000 tons. 
Twent)--four war ships of all classes are now under construction in 
the navy-yards and private shops, hut, while the work upon them is 
going forward satisfactorily, the completion of the more important 
vessels will yet require about a year's time. Some of the vessels 
now under construction, it is believed, will be triumphs of naval 
engineering. When it is recollected that the work of building a 
modern navy was only initiated in the year 1883, that our naval 
constructors and shipbuilders were practically withont experience 
in the construction of large iron or steel ships, that our engine 
shops were unfamiliar with great marine engines, and that the 
manufacture of steel forgings for guns and plates was almost wdioUy 
a foreign industry, the progress that has been made is not only 
highly satisfactory, but furnishes the assurance that the United 
States will before long attain, in the construction of such vessels, 
with their engines and armaments, the same preeminence which it 
attained when the best instrument of ocean commerce was the 
clipper ship and the most impressive exhibit of naval power the 
old wooden three-decker man-of-war. The officers of the Navy 
and the proprietors and engineers of our great private shops have 
responded with wonderful intelligence and professional zeal to the 
confidence expressed by Congress in its liberal legislation. We 
have now at Washington a gun shop, organized and conducted by 
naval officers, that in its system, economy, and product is unex- 
celled. Experiments with armor plate have been conducted during 
the year with most important results. It is now belie\-ed that a 
plate of higher resisting power than any in use has been found and 
that the tests have demonstrated that cheaper methods of manufac- 
ture than those heretofore thought necessary can be used. 

I commend to your favorable consideration the recommendations 
of the Secretary, who has, I am sure, given to them the most con- 
scientious stud)-. There should be no hesitation in promptly 
15151 s 



114 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

completing a navy of the best modern type, large enongh to enable 
this country to display its flag in all seas for the protection of its 
citizens and of its extending commerce. The world needs no assur- 
ance of the peaceful purjrjoses of the United States, but we shall 
probably be in the future more largely a competitor in the commerce 
of the world, and it is essential to the dignity of this nation and to 
that peaceful influence which it should exercise on this hemisphere 
that its navy should be adequate, both upon the shores of the 
Atlantic and of the Pacific. 

The report of the Secretary of the Interior shows that a very 
gratifying progress has been made in all of the bureaus which make 
up that complex and difficult Department. 

The work in the Bureau of Indian Affairs was perhaps never so 
large as now, by reason of the numerous negotiations which have 
been proceeding with the tribes for a reduction of the reservations, 
with the incident labor of making allotments, and was never more 
carefully conducted. The provision of adequate school facilities 
for Indian children and the locating of adult Indians upon farms 
involve the solution of the " Indian question. " Everything else — 
rations, annuities, and tribal negotiations, with the agents, inspect- 
ors, and commissioners who distribute and conduct them — must 
pass away when the Indian has become a citizen, secure in the indi- 
vidual ownership of a farm from which he derives his subsistence 
by his own labor, protected by and subordinate to the laws which 
govern the white man, and provided by the General Government 
or by the local communities in which he lives with the means of 
educating his children. When an Indian becomes a citizen in an 
organized State or Territory his relation to the General Government 
ceases, in great measure, to be that of a ward ; but the General 
Government ought not at once to put upon the State or Territory 
the burden of the education of his children. It has been my thought 
that the Government schools and school buildings upon the reser- 
vations would be absorbed by the school systems of the States and 
Territories ; but, as it has been found necessary to protect the Indian 
against the compulsory alienation of his land by exempting him 
from taxation for a period of twenty-five years, it would seem to be 
right that the General Government, certainly where there are tribal 
funds in its possession, should pay to the school fund of the State 
what would be equivalent to the local school tax upon the property 
of the Indian. It will be noticed from the report of the Commis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs that alread)- some contracts have been made 
with district schools for the education of Indian children. There is 
great advantage, I think, in bringing the Indian children into mixed 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 115 

schools. This process will be gradual, and in the iiieaiitime the 
present educational provisions and arrangements, the result of the 
laest experience of those who have been charged with this work, 
should be continued. This will enable those religious bodies that 
have undertaken the work of Indian education with .so much zeal, 
and with results .so restraining and beneficent, to place their institu- 
tions in new and useful relations to the Indian and to his white 
neighbors. 

The outbreak among the Sioux, which occurred in December last, 
is as to its causes and incidents fully reported upon by the War 
Department and the Department of the Interior. That these Indians 
had .some just complaints, especially in the matter of the reduction 
of the appropriation for rations and in the delays attending the 
enactment of laws to enable the Department to perform the engage- 
ments entered into with them, is probably true ; but the Sioux 
tribes are naturally warlike and turbulent, and their warriors were 
excited bv their medicine men and chiefs, who preached the coming 
of an Indian Messiah who was to give them power to destroy their 
enemies. In view of the alarm that prevailed among the white 
settlers near the reservation and of the fatal consequences that 
would have resulted from an Indian incursion, I placed at the dis- 
posal of General Miles, commanding the division of the Missouri, all 
such forces as were thought by him to be required. He is entitled 
to the credit of having given thorough protection to the settlers 
and of bringing the hostiles into subjection with the least possible 
loss of life. 

The appropriation of $2,991,450 for the Choctaws and Chicka- 
saws, contained in the general Indian appropriation bill of March 
3, 1891, has not been expended, for the reason that I have not yet 
approved a release (to the Government) of the Indian claim to the 
lands mentioned. This matter will be made the subject of a special 
mes.sage, placing before Congress all the facts which have come to 
my knowledge. 

The relation of the five civilized tribes now occupying the Indian 
Territory to the United States is not, I believe, that best calculated 
to promote the highest advancement of these Indians. That there 
■should be within our borders five independent States, having no 
relations, except tho.se growing out of treaties, with the Government 
of the United States, no representation in the national legislature, 
its people not citizens, is a startling anomaly. 

It seems to me to be inevitable that there shall be liefore long 
some organic changes in the relation of these people to the United 
States. What form these changes should take I do not think it 



ii6 Public Papers and Addresses of Bctijamiii Harrison. 

desirable now to suggest, even if they were well defined in my own 
mind. They should certainly involve the acceptance of citizenship 
by the Indians and a representation in Congress. These Indians 
should have opportunity to present their claims and grievances 
upon the floor rather than, as now, in the lobby. If a commission 
could be appointed to visit these tribes to confer with them in a 
friendly spirit upon this whole subject, even if no agreement were 
presently reached, the feeling of the tribes upon this question would 
be developed and discussion would prepare the way for changes 
which must come sooner or later. 

The good work of reducing the larger Indian reservations, by 
allotments in severalty to the Indians and the cession of the 
remaining lands to the United States for disposition under the 
homestead law, has been prosecuted during the year with energy 
and success. In September last I was enabled to open to settlement 
in the Territory of Oklahoma 900,000 acres of land, all of which 
was taken up by settlers in a single day. The rush for these lands 
was accompanied by a great deal of excitement, but was, happily, 
free from incidents of violence. 

It was a source of great regret that I was not able to open at 
the same time the surplus lands of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe 
Reservation, amounting to about 3,000,000 acres, by reason of 
the insufficiency of the appropriation for making the allotments. 
Deserving and impatient settlers are waiting to occupy these lands, 
and I urgently recommed that a special deficiency appropriation be 
promptly made of the small amount needed,' so that the allotments 
may be completed and the surplus lands opened in time to permit 
the settlers to get upon their homesteads in the early spring. 

During the past summer the Cherokee Commission have com- 
pleted arrangements with the Wichita, Kickapoo, and Tonkawa 
tribes, whereby, if the agreements are ratified by Congress, over 
800,000 additional acres will be opened to settlement in Oklahoma. 

The negotiation for the release by the Cherokees of their claim 
to the Cherokee vStrip has made no substantial progress, so far as 
the Department is officially advised, but it is still hoped that the 
cession of this large and valuable tract may be secured. The price 
wliich the Commission was authorized to offer — one dollar and a 
quarter per acre — is, in my judgment, when all the circumstances 
as to title and the character of the lands are considered, a fair and 
adequate one and should have been accepted by the Indians. 

Since March 4, 1889, about 23,000,000 acres have been separated 
from Indian reservations and added to the public domain for the 
use of those who desired to secure free homes under our beneficent 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjainin Plarrisoii. 117 

laws. It is difficult to estimate the increase of wealth which will 
result from the conversion of these waste lands into fiirnis, but 
it is more difficult to estimate the betterment which will result 
to the families that have found renewed hope and courage in the 
ownership of a home and the assurance of a comforta1)le subsistence 
under free and healthful conditions. It is also eratifvine to be able 
to feel, as we may, that this work has proceeded upon lines of 
justice towards the Indian, and that he may now, if he will, secure 
to himself the good influences of a .settled habitation, the fruits of 
industry, and the security of citizenship. 

Early in this administration a .special effort was begun to bring 
up the work of the General lyand Office. By faithful work the 
arrearages have been rapidly reduced. At the end of the last fiscal 
year only 84,172 final agricultural entries remained undisposed of, 
and the Commissioner reports that, with the present force, the 
work can be fully brought up by the end of the next fiscal vear. 

Your attention is called to the difficulty presented by the Secre- 
tary of the Interior as to the administration of the law of March 
3, 1891, establishing a court of private land claims. The small 
holdings intended to be protected 1)y the law are estimated to be 
more than fifteen thousand in nu.nber. The claimants are a most 
deserving class and their titles are supported by the strongest 
equities. The difficulty grows out of the fact that the lauds have 
largely been surveyed according to our methods, while the holdings, 
many of which have been in the same family for generations, are 
laid out in narrow strips a few rods wide upon a stream and running 
back to the hills for pasturage and timber. Provision should be 
made for numbering these tracts as lots and for patenting them by 
such numbers, and without reference to section lines. 

The administration of the Pension Bureau has been characterized 
during the year by great diligence. The total number of pensioners 
upon the roll on the 30th day of June, 1891, was 676,160. There 
were allowed during the fiscal year ending at that time 250,565 
cases. Of this number, 102,387 were allowed under the law of June 
27, 1890. The issuing of certificates has been proceeding at the 
rate of about 30,000 per month, about 75 per cent of these being 
cases under the new law. The Commissioner expresses the opinion 
that he will be able to carefully adjudicate and allow 350,000 claims 
during the present fiscal year. The appropriation for the pa^-ment 
of pensions for the fiscal year iSgo-'gi was $127,685,793.89 and the 
amount expended $118,530,649.25, leaving an unexpended surplus 
of #9- 155. 144- 64- 

The Commissioner is quite confident that there will be no call 



Ii8 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

this year for a deficiency appropriation, notwithstanding the 
rapidity with which the work is being pnshed. The mistake which 
has been made by many in their exaggerated estimates of the cost 
of pensions is in not taking account of the diminished value of first 
payments under the recent legislation. These payments, under 
the general law, have been for many years very large, as the 
pensions, when allowed, dated from the time of filing the claim, 
and most of these claims had been pending for years. The first 
jDayments under the law of June, 1890, are relatively small, and as 
the per cent of these cases increases and that of the old cases 
diminishes, the annual aggregate of first payments is largely 
reduced. The Commissioner, under date of November 13, furnishes 
me with the statement that during the last four months 113,175 
certificates were issued, 27,893 under the general law and 85,282 
under the act of June 27, 1890. The average first payment during 
these four months was $131.85, while the average first payment 
upon cases allowed during the year ending June 30, i<'<9i, was 
^239.33, being a reduction in the average first payments during 
these four months of $107.48. 

The estimate for pension expenditures for the fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1893, is $144,956,000, which, after a careful examination 
of the subject, the Commissioner is of the opinion will be sufficient. 
While these disbursements to the disabled soldiers of the great civil 
war are large, they do not realize the exaggerated estimates of those 
who oppose this beneficent legislation. The Secretary of the 
Interior shows with great fullness the care that is taken to exclude 
fraudulent claims, and also the gratifying fact that the persons to 
whom these pensions are going are men who rendered not slight, 
but substantial, war service. 

The report of tlie Commissioner of Railroads shows that tlie total 
debt of the subsidized railroads to the United States was, on 
December 31, 1890, $112,512,613.06. A large part of this debt is 
now fast approaching maturity, with no adequate provision for its 
payment. Some policy for dealing with this debt, with a view of 
its ultimate collection, should be at once adopted. It is very 
difficult, well nigh impossible, for so large a body as the Congress to 
conduct the necessary negotiations and investigations. I therefore 
recommend that provision be made for the appointment of a 
commission to agree upon and report a plan for dealing with this 
debt. 

The work of the Census Bureau is now far in advance and the 
great bulk of the enormous labor involved completed. It will be 
more strictly a statistical exhibit and less encumbered by essays 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 1 19 

than its immediate predecessors. The methods pursued have been 
f^iiir, careful, and intelligent, and have secured the approval of the 
statisticians, who have followed them with a scientific and 
nonpartisan interest. The appropriations necessary to the early 
completion and publication of the authorized volumes should be 
given in time to secure against delays, which increase the cost and 
at the same time diminish the value of the work. 

The report of the Secretary exhibits, with interesting fullness, 
the condition of the Territories. They have shared with the States 
the great increase in farm products and are bringing yearly large 
areas into cultivation by extending their irrigating canals. This 
work is being done by individuals or local corporations and without 
that system which a full preliminary survey of the water supply and 
of the irrigable lands would enable them to adopt. The future of 
the Territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah in their material 
growth and in the increase, independence, and happiness of their 
people is very largely dependent upon wise and timely legislation, 
either by Congress or their own legislatures, regulating the dis- 
tribution of the water supply furnished by their streams. If this 
matter is much longer neglected, private corporations will have 
unrestricted control of one of the elements of life and the patentees 
of the arid lands will be tenants at will of the water companies. 

The United States should part with its ownership of the water 
sources and the sites for reservoirs, whether to the States and Terri- 
tories or to individuals or corporations, only upon conditions that 
will insure to the settlers their proper water supply upon equal 
and reasonable terms. In the Territories this whole subject is under 
the full control of Congress, and in the States it is practically .so as 
long as the Government holds the title to the reservoir sites and 
wat'er sources and can grant them upon such conditions as it chooses 
to impose. The improvident granting of franchises of enormous 
value, without recompense to the State or municipalit)- from which 
they proceed and without proper protection of the public interests, 
is the most noticeable and flagrant evil of modern legislation. This 
fault should not be committed in dealing with a subject that will, 
before many years, affect s(j vitally thousands of our people. 

Tlie legislation of Congress for the repression of polygamy 
has, after "years of resistance on the part of the Mormons, at last 
brought them to the conclusion that resistance is unprofitable and 
unavailing. The power of Congress over this subject should not 
be surrendered until we have .satisfactory evidence that the people 
of the State to be created would exercise the exclusive power of 
the State over this subject in the same way. The question is not 



120 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

whether these people now obey the laws of Congress against 
polygamy, but rather would they make, enforce, and maintain 
such laws themselves if absolutely free to regulate the subject? 
We can not afford to experiment with this subject, for when a 
State is once constituted the act is final and any mistake irretriev- 
able. No compact in the enabling act could, in mv opinion, be 
binding or effective. 

I recommend that provision be made for the organization of a 
simple form of town government in Alaska, with power to regulate 
such matters as are usualh' in the States under municipal control. 
These local civil organizations will give better protection in some 
matters than the present skeleton Territorial organization. Proper 
restrictions as to the power to levy taxes and to create debt should 
be imposed. 

If the establishment of the Department of Agriculture was 
regarded by anyone as a mere concession to the unenlightened 
demand of a worth)- class of people, that impression has been most 
effectually removed by the great results alread)- attained. Its home 
influence has been very great in disseminating agricultural and 
horticultural information ; in stimulating and directing a further 
diversification of crops ; in detecting and eradicating diseases of 
domestic animals ; and, more than all, in the close and informal 
contact which it has established and maintains with the fanners and 
stock-raisers of the whole country. Ever}- request for information 
has had prompt attention and every suggestion merited considera- 
tion. The scientific corps of the Department is of a high order 
and is pushing its investigations with method and enthusiasm. 

The inspection by this Department of cattle and pork products 
intended for shipment abroad has been the basis of the success which 
has attended our efforts to secure the removal of the restrictions 
maintained by the European governments. 

For ten years protests and petitions upon this subject from the 
packers and stock-raisers of the United States have been directed 
against these restrictions, which so seriously limited our markets 
and curtailed the profits of the farm. It is a source of general 
congratulation that success has at last been attained, for the effects 
of an enlarged foreign market for these meats will be felt, not only 
by the farmer, but in our public finances and in every branch of 
trade. It is particularly fortunate that the increased demand for 
food products, resulting from the removal of the restrictions upon 
our meats and from the reciprocal trade arrangements to which I 
have referred, should have come at a time when the agricultural 
surplus is so large. Without the help thus derived, lower prices 



Public Papers and .Iddn-ssi's of Benjamin Harrison. i2i 

would have prevailed. The Secretary of Agriculture estimates 
that the restrictions upon the importation of our pork products into 
Europe lost tis a market for $20,000,000 v/orth of these products 
annually. 

The grain crop of this year was the largest in our history, 50 per 
cent greater than that of last year, and yet the new markets that 
have been opened and the larger demand resulting from short 
crops in Europe have sustained prices to such an extent that the 
enormous surplus of meats aiul breadstuffs will be marketed at good 
prices, bringing relief and prosperity to an industry that was much 
depressed. The value of the grain crop of the United States is 
estimated by the Secretary to be this year $500,000,000 more than 
last; of meats, $150,000,000 more, and of all products of the 
farm, $700,000,000 more. It is not inappropriate, I think, here to 
suggest that our satisfaction in the contemplation of this marvelous 
addition to the national wealth is unclouded b>- any suspicion of 
the currency by which it is measured and in which the farmer is 
paid for the products of his fields. 

The report of the Civil Service Commission should receive the 
careful attention of the opponents as well as the friends, of this 
reform. The Commission invites a ])ersoual inspection b\' Senators 
and Representatives of its records and methods ; and every fair 
critic will feel that such an examination .should precede a judgment 
of condemnation, either of the .system or its administration. It is 
not claimed that either is perfect, but I believe that the law is 
being executed with impartiality, and that the system is incom- 
parably better and fairer than that of appointments upon favor. 
I have during the year extended the classified service to include 
superintendents, teachers, matrons, and physicians in the Indian 
service. This branch of the service is largely related to educa- 
tional and philanthropic work, and will obvioush' be better for 
the change. 

The heads of the several Executive Departments have been 
directed to establish at once an efficiency record as the basis of a 
comparative rating of the clerks within the clas.sified .service, with a 
view to placing promotions therein upon the basi.*? of merit. I am 
confident that such a record, fairly kept and open to the inspection 
of those interested, will powerfully stimulate the work of the 
Departments, and will be accepted by all as placing the trouble- 
some matter of promotions upon a just basis. 

I recommend that the appropriations for the Civil Service Com- 
mission be made adequate to the increased work of the next fi.scal 
year. 



122 Public Papers and Addresses of Betijamin Harrison. 

I have twice before urgently called the attention of Congress 
to the necessity of legislation for the protection of the lives of 
railroad employes, but nothing has yet been done. During the 
year ending June 30, 1890, 369 brakemen were killed and 7,841 
maimed while engaged in coupling cars. The total number of 
■railroad employes killed during the year was 2,451 and the number 
injured 22,390. This is a cruel and largely a needless sacrifice. 
The Government is spendioig nearly $1,000,000 annually to save 
the lives of shipwrecked seamen; every steam vessel is rigidly 
inspected and required to adopt the most approved safety appli- 
ances. All this is good ; but how shall we excuse the lack of 
interest and effort in behalf of this army of brave young men who in 
our land commerce are being sacrificed every year by the continued 
use of antiquated and dangerous appliances? A law requiring of 
every railroad engaged in interstate commerce the equipment each 
year of a given per cent of its freight cars with automatic couplers 
and air brakes would compel an agreement between the roads as 
to the kind of brakes and couplers to be used, and would very 
soon and very greatly reduce the present fearful death rate among 
railroad employes. 

The method of appointment by the States of electors of President 
and Vice-President has recently attracted renewed interest by reason 
of a departure by the State of Michigan from the method which had 
become uniform in all the States. Prior to 1832 various methods 
had been used by the different States and even by the same State. 
In some the choice was made by the legislature; in others electors 
were chosen by districts, but more generally by the voters of the 
whole State upon a general ticket. The movement towards the 
adoption of the last-named method had an early beginning and 
went steadily forward among the States, until in 1832 there 
remained but a single State, South Carolina, that had not adopted 
it. That State, until the civil war, continued to choose its electors 
by a vote of the legislature, but after the war changed its method 
and conformed to the practice of the other States. For nearly sixty 
years all the States save one have appointed their electors by a 
popular vote upon a general ticket, and for nearly thirty years this 
method was universal. 

After a full test of other methods, without important division or 
dissent in any State and without any purpose of party advantage, as 
we must believe, but solely upon the considerations that uniformity 
was desirable and that a general election in territorial divisions not 
subject to change was most consistent with the popular character 
of our institutions, best preserved the equality of the voters, and 



C) 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaiiiiii Harrison. 123 

perfectly removed the choice of President from the baneful influence 
fthe "gen->niander," the practice of all the States was brought 
into harmony. That this concurrence should now be broken is, I 
think, an unfortunate and even a threatening episode, and one that 
may well suggest whether the States that still give their approval 
to the old and prevailing method ought not to secure, by a constitu- 
tional amendment, a practice which has had the approval of all. 
The recent Michigan legislation provides for choosing what are 
popularly known as the Congressi-onal electors for President by 
Congressional districts, and the two Senatorial electors by districts 
created for that purpose. Tliis legislation was, of course, accom- 
panied by a new Congressional apportionment and the two statutes 
bring the electoral vote of the State under the influence of the 
' ' gerrymander. ' ' 

These gerrymanders for Congressional purposes are in most cases 
buttressed by a gerrymander of the legislative districts, thus making 
it impossible for a majority of the legal voters of the State to correct 
the apportionment and equalize the Congressional districts. A 
minority rule is established that only a political convulsion can 
overthrow. I have recently been advised that in one county of a 
certain State three districts for the election of members of the 
legislature are constituted as follows: (Jne has 65,000 population; 
one, 15,000, and one, 10,000; while in another county, detached, 
non contiguous .sections have been united to make a legislative 
district. These methods have already found effective application 
to the choice of Senators and Representatives in Congress, and now 
an evil start has been made in the direction of applying them to 
the choice by the States of electors of President and Vice-President. 
If this is accomplished, we shall then have the three great depart- 
ments of the Government in the grasp of the "gerrymander," the 
Legislative and Executive directly and the Judiciary indirectly 
through the power of appointment. 

An election implies a body of electors having prescribed quali- 
fications, each one of whom has an equal value and influence in 
determining the result. So when the Constitution provides that 
"each State .shall appoint" (elect), "in such manner as the legisla- 
ture thereof may direct, a number of electors, " etc., an unrestricted 
power was not given to the legislatures in the .selection of the 
methods to be used. "A republican form of government" is 
guaranteed by the Constitution to each State, and the power 
given by the .same instrument to the legislatures of the vStates to 
prescribe methods for the choice, by the State, of electors must be 
exercised under that limitation. The essential features of such a 



124 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

government are the right of the people to choose their own officers 
and the nearest practicable eqnality of value in the suffrages given 
in determining that choice. 

It will not be claimed that the power given to the legislature 
would support a law providing that the persons recei\ing the 
smallest vote should be the electors or a law that all the electors 
should be chosen by the voters of a single Congressional district. 
The State is to choose, and, under the pretense of regulating 
methods, the legislature can neither vest the right of choice else- 
where nor adopt methods not conformable to republican institutions. 
It is not my purpose here to discuss the question whether a choice 
by the legislature or by the voters of equal single districts is a 
choice by the State, but only to recommend such regulation of this 
matter by constitutional amendment as will secure uniformity and 
prevent that disgraceful partisan jugglery to which such a liberty 
of choice, if its exists, offers a temptation. 

Nothing just now is more important than to provide every 
guaranty for the absolutely fciir and free choice by an equal suffrage, 
within the respective States, of all the officers of the National 
Government, whether that suffrage is applied directly, as in the 
choice of members of the House of Representatives, or indirectly, 
as in the choice of Senators and electors of President. Respect for 
public officers and obedience to law will not cease to be the 
characteristics of our people until our elections cease to declare the 
will of majorities fairly ascertained, without fraud, suppression, or 
gerrymander. If I were called upon to declare wherein our chief 
national danger lies, I should say, without hestitation, in the over- 
throw of majority control by the suppression or perversion of the 
popular suffrage. That there is a real danger here all must agree, 
but the energies of those who see it have been chiefly expended in 
trying to fix responsibility upon the opposite party, rather than in 
efforts to make such practices impossible by either party. 

Is it not possible now to adjourn that interminable and inconclu- 
sive debate while we take, by consent, one step in the direction of 
reform by eliminating the gerrymander, which has been denounced 
by all parties, as an influence in the selection of electors of President 
and members of Congress? All the States have, acting freely and 
separately, determined that the choice of electors by a general ticket 
is the wisest and safest method, and it would seem there could be 
no objection to a constitutional amendment making that method 
permanent. If a legislature chosen in one year upon purely local 
questions should, pending a Presidential contest, meet, rescind the 
law for a choice upon a general ticket, and provide for the choice 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bcnjatniii Harrison. 125 

of electors by the legislature, and this trick should determine the 
result, it is not too much to say that the public peace might be 
seriously and widely endangered. 

I have alluded to the "gerrymander" as affecting the method of 
selecting electors of President by Congressional districts, but the 
primary intent and effect of this form of political robbery have 
relation to the selection of members of the House of Representatives. 
The power of Congress is ample to deal with this threatening and 
intolerable abuse. The unfailing test of sincerity in election reform 
will be found in a willingness to confer as to remedies and to put 
into force such measures as will most effectually preserve the right 
of the people to free and equal representation. 

An attempt was made in the last Congress to bring to bear the 
constitutional powers of the General Government for the correction 
of frauds against the suffrage. It is important to know whether the 
opposition to such measures is really vested in particular features 
supposed to be objectionable or includes any proposition to give to 
the election laws of the United States adequacy to the correction 
of grave and acknowledged evils. I must yet entertain the hope 
that it is po-ssible to secure a calm, patriotic consideration of such 
constitutional or statutory changes as may be necessary to secure 
the choice of the officers of the Government to the people by fair 
apportionments and free elections. 

I believe it would be possible to constitute a commission^ 
nonpartisan in its membership and composed of patriotic, wise, 
and impartial men, to whom a consideration of the question of the 
evils connected with our election system and methods might be 
committed with a good prospect of securing unanimity in some 
plan for removing or mitigating those evils. The Constitution 
would permit the selection of the commission to be vested in the 
Supreme Court, if that method would give the best guaranty of 
impartiality. 

This commission should be charged with the duty of inquiring 
into the whole subject of the law of elections as related to the choice 
of officers of the National Government, with a view to securing to 
every elector a free and unmolested exercise of the suffrage and as 
near an approach to an equality of value in each ballot cast as is 
attainable. 

While the policies of the General Government upon the tariff, 
upon the restoration of our merchant marine, upon river and 
harbor improvements, and other such matters of grave and general 
concern are liable to be turned this way or that by the results of 
Congressional elections, and administrative policies, sometimes 



126 Public Papers and .l(/i/nsscs of Pciijaiiiiii Harrison. 

involving issues that tend to peace or war, to be turned this way or 
that by the results of a Presidential election, there is a rightful 
interest in all the States and in every Congressional district that 
will not be deceived or silenced by the audacious pretense that the 
question of the right of any bod\' of legal voters in any State or in 
any Congressional district to give their suffrages freely upon these 
general questions is a matter only of local concern or control. The 
demand tliat the limitations of suffrage shall be found in the law, 
and only there, is a just demand, and no just man should resent or 
resist it. My appeal is, and must continue to be, for a consultation 
that shall "proceed with candor, calmness, and patience upon the 
lines of justice and humanity, not of prejudice and cruelty." 

To the consideration of these very grave questions I invite not 
only the attention of Congress, but that of all patriotic citizens. 
We must not entertain the delusion that our people have ceased to 
regard a free ballot and equal representation as the price of their 
allegiance to laws and to civil magistrates. 

I have been greatly rejoiced to fiotice many evidences of the 
increased unification of our peoj^le and of a revived national spirit. 
The vista that now opens to us is wider and more glorious than 
ever before. Gratification and amazement struggle for supremacy 
as we contemplate the population, wealth, and moral strength of 
our country. A trust, momentous in its influence upon our people 
and upon the world, is for a brief time committed to us, and we 
must not be faithless to its first condition — -the defense of the free 
and equal influence of the people in the choice of public oflicers 
and in the control of public affairs. 

Benj. H.\rrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

December 9, 1891. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijainin Harrison. 127 

IV. 

DECEMBER 6, 1892. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

In submitting my annual message to Congress, I ha\'e great 
satisfaction in being able to say that the general conditions 
affecting the commercial and industrial interests of the United 
States are in the highest degree favorable. A comparison of the 
existing conditions with those of the most favored period in the 
history of the country will, I believe, show that so high a degree of 
prosperity and .so general a diffusion of the comforts of life-were 
never before enjo}'ed by our people. 

The total wealth of the country in i860 was $16, 159,616,068. In 
1890 it amounted to $62,610,000,000, an increa.se of 287 per cent. 

The total mileage of railways in the United States in i860 was 
30,626; in 1890 it was 167,741, an increase of 448 per cent; and 
it is estimated that there will be about 4,000 miles of track added 
by the close of the )ear 1892. 

The official returns of the Eleventh Census and those of the 
Tenth Census for 75 leading cities furnish the basis for the follow- 
ing comparisons : 

In 1880 the capital invested in manufacturing was $1,232,839,670. 

In 1890 the capital invested in manufacturing was $2,900, 735,884. 

In 1880 the number of employes was 1,301,388. 

In 1890 the number of employes was 2,251,134. 

In 1880 the wages earned were $501,965,778. 

In 1890 the wages earned were $1,221,170,454. 

In 1880 the value of the product was $2,711,579,899. 

In 1890 the value of the product was $4,860,286,837. 

I am informed by the Superintendent of the Census that the 
omission of certain industries in 1880, which were included in 1890, 
accounts in part for the remarkable increase thus shown. But, after 
making full allowance for differences of method and deductine the 
returns for all industries not included in the Census of 1880, there 
remain in the reports from these seventy-five cities an increase in the 
capital employed of $1,522,745,604 ; in the value of the product of 
$2,024,236,166; in wages earned of $677,943,929, and in the 
number of wage-earners employed of 856,029. The wage earnings 
not only show an increased aggregate, but an increase per capita 
from $386 in 1880 to $547 in 1890, or 41.71 per cent. 



128 Public Papers and Addresses of Btnjainin Harrison. 

The new industrial plants established since October 6, 1890, and 
up to October 22, 1892, as partially reported in the American 
Economist, number 345, and the extension of existing plants, 108; 
the new capital invested amounts to $40,449,050, and the number 
of additional employes to 37,285. 

The Textile World for July, 1892, states that during the first 
six months of the present calendar year 135 new factories were built, 
of which 40 are cotton mills, 48 knitting mills, 26 woolen mills, 15 
silk mills, 4 plush mills, and 2 linen mills. Of the 40 cotton mills 
21 have been built in the Southern States. Mr. A. B. Shepperson, 
of the New York Cotton Exchange, estimates the number of working 
spindles in the United States on September i, 1892, at 15,200,000, 
an increase of 660,000 over the year 1891. The consumption of 
cotton by American mills in 1891 was 2,396,000 bales, and in 1892 
2,584,000 bales, an increase of 188,000 bales. From the year 1869 
to 1892, inclusive, there has been an increase in the consumption 
of cotton in Europe of 92 per cent, while during the same period the 
increased consumption in the United States has been about 150 per 
cent. 

The report of Ira Ayer, special agent of the Treasury Depart- 
ment, shows that at the date of September 30, 1892, there were 
32 companies manufacturing tin and terne plate in the United 
States and 14 companies building new works for such manufacture. 
The estimated investment in buildings and plants at the close of 
the fiscal year, June 30, 1893, if existing conditions were to be 
continued, was $5,000,000, and the estimated rate of production 
200,000,000 pounds per annum. The actual production for the 
quarter ending September 30, 1892, was 10,952,725 pounds. 

The report of Labor Commissioner Peck, of New York, shows 
that during the year 1891, in about 6,000 manufacturing estab- 
lishments in that State embraced within the special inquiry made 
by him, and representing 67 different industries, there was a net 
increase over the year 1890 of $31,315,130.68 in the value of the 
product, and of $6,377,925.09 in the amount of wages paid. The 
report of the commissioner of labor for the State of Massachusetts 
shows that 3,745 industries in that State paid $129,416,248 in wages 
during the year 1891, again.st $126,030,303 in 1890, an increase of 
$3,335,945, and that there was an increase of $9,932,490 in the 
amount of capital and of 7,346 in the number of persons employed 
in the same period. 

During the last six months of the year 1891 and the first six 
months of 1892 the total production of pig iron was 9,710,819 tons, as 
agaiust9, 202,703tonsin the year 1890, which was the largest annual 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beii/a»iiii Harrison. 129 

production ever attained. For the same twelve niontlis of iSgi-'ga 
the production of Bessemer ini^ots was 3,878,581 tons, an increase 
of 189,710 gross tons over the previously unprecedented yearly 
production of 3,688,871 gross tons in 1890. The jirodnction of 
Bessemer steel rails for the first six months of 1892 was 772,436 
gross tons, as against 702,080 gross tons during the last six months 
of the year 1891. 

The total value of our foreign trade (exports and imports of mer- 
chandise) during the last fiscal year was $1,857,680,610, an increase 
of $128,283,604 over the previous fiscal year. The average annual 
value of our imports and exports of merchandise for the ten fiscal 
years prior to 1891 was $1,457,322,019. It will be ob.served that 
our foreign trade for 1892 exceeded this annual average value bv 
$400,358,591, an increase of 27.47 per cent. The significance and 
value of this increase are shown by the fact that the excess in the 
trade of 1892 over i8gi was wholly in the value of e.vjjorts, for there 
was a decrease in the value of imports of $17,513,754. 

The value of our exports during the fiscal year 1892 reached the 
highest figure in the history of the Government, amounting to 
$1,030,278,148, exceeding by $145,797,338 the exports of 1891 and 
exceeding the value of the imports by $202,875,686. A comparison 
of the value of our exports for 1892 with the annual average for the 
ten years prior to 1891 .shows an excess of $265, 142,651, or of 34.65 
per cent. The value of our imports of merchandise for 1892, which 
was $829,402,462, also exceeded the annual average value of the 
ten years prior to 1891 by $135,215,940. During the fi.scal year 
1892 the value of imports free of duty amounted to $457,999,658, 
the largest aggregate in the history of our commerce. The value ot 
the imports of merchandise entered free of duty in 1892 was 55. 35 pet 
cent of the total value of imports, as compared with 43.35 per cent 
in 1891 and 33.66 per cent in 1890. 

In our coastwise trade a most encouraging development is in prog- 
ress, there having been in the last four years an increase of 16 per 
cent. In internal commerce the statistics show that no such period 
of prosperity hasever before exi.sted. The freight carried in the coast- 
wise trade of the Great Lakes in 1890 aggregated 28,295,959 tons. 
On the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers and tributaries in 
the .same year the traflSc aggregated 29,405,046 tons, and the total 
vessel tonnage passing through the Detroit River during that year 
was 21,684,000 tons. The vessel tonnage entered and cleared in the 
eign trade of London during 1890 amounted to 13,480,767 tons, and 
of Liverpool 10,941,800 tons, a total for these two great shipping 
ports of 24,422,568 tons, only slight!)' in excess of the vessel ton- 
15151 !> 



130 riiblic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

nage passing tluough the Detroit River. And it shonld be said that 
the season for the Detroit River was but 228 days, while, of course, 
in London and Liverpool the season was for the entire year. The 
vessel tonnage passing through the St. Marys Canal for the fiscal 
year 1892 amounted to 9,828,874 tons, and the freight tonnage of 
the Detroit River is estimated for that year at 25, 000, 000 tons, against 
23,209,619 tons in 1891. The aggregate traffic on our railroads for 
the year 1891 amounted to 704,398,609 tons of freight, compared 
with 691,344,437 tons in 1890, an increase of 13,054,172 tons. 

Another indication of the general prosperity of the country is 
found in the fact that the number of depositors in savings banks 
increased from 693,870 in i860 to 4,258,893 in 1890, an increase of 
513 per cent, and the amount of deposits from $149,277,504 in i860 
to $1,524,844,506 in 1890, an increase of 921 per cent. In 1891 the 
amount of deposits in savings banks was $1,623,079,749. It is 
estimated that 90 per cent of these deposits represent the savings 
of wage-earners. The bank clearances for nine months ending 
September 30, 1891, amounted to $41,049,390,808. For the .same 
months in 1892 they amounted to $45,189,601,947, an excess for the 
nine months of $4,140,211,139. 

There never has been a time in our history when work was so 
abundant or when wages were as high, whether measured by the 
currency in which they are paid or by their power to supply 
the necessaries and comforts of life. It is true that the market 
prices of cotton and wheat have been low. It is one of the unfavor- 
able incidents of agriculture that the farmer can not produce upon 
orders. He must sow and reap in ignorance of the aggregate pro- 
duction of the year, and is peculiarly subject to the depreciation 
which follows overproduction. But, while the fact I have stated is 
true, as to the crops mentioned, the general average of prices has 
been such as to give to agriculture a fair participation in the general 
prosperity. The value of our total farm products has increased from 
$1,363,646,866 in i860 to $4,500,000,000 in 1 891, as estimated by 
statisticians, an increase of 230 per cent. The number of hogs 
January i, 1891, was 50,625,106 and their value $210,193,925; on 
January i, 1892, the number was 52,398,019 and the value 
$241,031,415. On January i, 1891, the number of cattle was 
36,875,648 and the value 5^544,127,908; on January i, 1892, the 
number was 37,651,239 and the value $570,749,155. 

If any are discontented with their state here; if any believe that 
wages or prices, the returns for honest toil, are inadequate, they 
should not fall to remember that there is no other country in the 
world where the conditions that seem to them hard would not 



Public Papers and ^Iddrisscs of liciijaiiiin J/arn'soii. 131 

l)e accepted as liighly prosperous. The Eiiglisli agriculturist 
would be glad to exchauge the returus of his labor for those of the 
American farmer, and the Manchester workmen their wages for 
those of their fellows at Fall River. 

I belie\'e that the protective system, which has now for .something 
more than thirt\- years continuously prevailed in our legislaticm, 
has been a mighty instrument for the development of our national 
wealth and a most powerful agency in protecting the hotnes of our 
workingmen from the invasion of want. I have felt a most solicitous 
interest to preserve to our working people rates of wages that would 
not only give daily bread but supply a comfortable margin for tho.se 
home attractions and family comforts and enjoyments without which 
life is neither hopeful nor sweet. They are American citizens — a 
part of the great people for whom our Constitution and ( 'Tovernment 
were framed and instituted — and it can not be a perversion of that 
Constitution to so legislate as to preserve in their homes the 
comfort, independence, loyalty, and sense of interest in the 
Government which are essential to good citizenship in peace, and 
which will bring this stalwart throng, as in 1861, to the defense 
of the flag when it is assailed. 

It is not my purpose to renew here the argument in favor of a 
protective tariff. The result of the recent election must be accepted 
as having introduced a new policy. We must assume that the 
present tariff, constructed upon the lines of protection, is to be 
repealed, and that there is to be substituted for it a tariff law 
constructed soleh- with reference to revenue; that no duty is to be 
higher because the increase will keep open an American mill or 
keep up the wages of an American workman, but that in every 
case such a rate of duty is to be imposed as will bring to the 
Treasury of the United States the largest returns of revenue. The 
contention has not been between schedules, but between principles, 
and it would be offensive to suggest that the prevailing party will 
not carry into legislation the principles advocated by it and the 
pledges given to the people. The tariff bills passed by the House of 
Representatives at the last session were, as I suppose — even in 
the opinion of their promoters — inadequate, and justified only bv 
the fact that the Senate and House of Representatives were not in 
accord and that a general revision could not, therefore, be 
undertaken. 

I recommend that the whole subject of tariff revision be left to 
the incoming Congress. It is matter of regret that this work 
must be delayed for at least three months; for the threat of great tariff 
changes introduces so much uncertainty that an amount, not easily 



132 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

estimated, of business inaction and of diminished production will 
necessarily result. It is possible also that this uncertainty may 
result in decreased revenues from customs duties, for our merchants 
will make cautious orders for foreign goods in view of the prospect 
of tariff reductions and the uncertainty as to when the>- will take 
effect. Those who have advocated a protective tariff can well afford 
to have their disastrous forecasts of a change of policy disappointed. 
If a system of customs duties can be framed that will set the idle 
wheels and looms of Europe in motion and crowd our warehouses 
with foreign-made goods, and at the same time keep our own mills 
busy ; that will give us an increased participation in the " markets 
of the world" of greater value than the home market we surrender; 
that will give increased work to foreign workmen upon products to 
be consumed by our people without diminishing the amount of 
work to be done here ; that will enable the American manufacturer 
to pay to his workmen from 50 to 100 per cent more in wages than 
is paid in the foreign mill and yet to compete in our market and 
in foreign markets with the foreign producer ; that will further 
reduce the cost of articles of wear and food without reducing the 
wages of those -who produce them ; that can be celebrated, after its 
effects have been realized, as its expectation has been, in European 
as well as in American cities, the authors and promoters of it will 
be entitled to the highest praise. We have had in our history 
several experiences of the contrasted effects of a revenue and of a 
protective tariff; but this generation has not felt them, and the 
experience of one generation is not highly instructive to the next. 
The friends of the protective system, with undiminished confidence 
in the principles they have advocated, will await the results of the 
new experiment. 

The strained and too often disturbed relations existing between 
the employes and the employers in our great manufacturing 
establishments have not been favorable to a calm consideration by 
the wage-earner of the effect upon wages of the protective system. 
The facts that his wages were the highest paid in like callings in 
the world and that a maintenance of this rate of wages, in the 
absence of protective duties upon the product of his labor, was 
impossible, were obscured by the passion evoked by these contests. 
He may now be able to review the question in the light of his 
personal experience under the operation of a tariff for revenue only. 
If that experience shall demonstrate that present rates of wages 
are thereby maintained or increased, either absolutely or in their 
purchasing power, and that the aggregate volume of work to be 
done in this country is increased, or even maintained, so that there 



Public Papers and Addresses of Ben/am in Harrison. 1 33 

are more or as many days' work in a year at as good or better 
wages for the American workman as has been the case under the 
protective s\-stem, everyone will rejoice. A general process of 
wage reduction can not be contemplated by any patriotic citizen 
without the gravest apprehension. It may be, indeed I believe is, 
possible for the American manufacturer to compete successfully 
with his foreign rival in many branches of production without the 
defense of protective duties, if the pay rolls are equalized; but the 
conflict that stands between the producer and that result and the 
distress of our working people when it is attained are not pleasant 
to contemplate. The Society of the Unemployed, now holding its 
frequent and threatening parades in the streets of foreign cities, 
should not be allowed to acquire an American domicile. 

The reports of the heads of the several Executive Departments, 
which are herewith sulunitted, have very naturally included a 
rL^sume of the whole work of the administration with the trans- 
actions of the last fiscal year. The attention not only of Congress 
but of the country is again invited to the methods of administration 
which have been pursued and to the results which have been 
attained. Public revenues amounting to $1,414,079,292.28 have 
been collected \and disbursed without lo.ss from misappropriation, 
without a single defalcation of such importance as to attract the 
public attention, and at a dimini.shed per cent of cost for collection. 
The public business has been transacted not only with fidelity, but 
progressively, and with a view to giving to the people in the fullest 
po.ssible degree the benefits of a service established and maintained 
for their protection and comfort. 

Our relations with other nations are now undisturbed byanyserious 
controversy. The complicated and threatening diflferences with 
Germany and England relating to Samoan affairs, with England 
in relation to the .seal fisheries in the Bering Sea, and with Chile 
growing out of the Baltimore aflTair have been adjusted. 

There have been negotiated and concluded, under section :; of the 
tariff law, commercial agreements relating to reciprocal trade with 
the followingcouutries: Brazil, nomiuican Republic, Spain for Cuba 
and Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Salvador, the German Empire, Great 
Britain for certain West Indian Colonies and British Guiana, Nic- 
aragua, Honduras, and Austria-Hungary. 

Ofthe.se, those with (iuatemala, Salvador, the German Empire, 
Great Britain, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Au.stria-Hungary have 
been concluded since my last annual message. Under these trade 
arrangements a free or favored admission has been secured in every 
case for an important list of American products. Especial care has 



134 Public- Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

been taken to secure markets for farm products in order to relieve 
that great underlying industry of the depression which the lack of 
an adequate foreign market for our surplus often brings. An opening 
has also been made for manufactured products that will undoubtedly, 
if this policy is maintained, greatly augment our export trade. 
The full benefits of these arrangements can not be realized instantly. 
New lines of trade are to be opened. The commercial traveler must 
surv^ey the field. The manufacturer must adapt his goods to the 
new markets and facilities for exchange must be established. This 
work has been well begun, our merchants and manufacturers having 
entered the new fields with courage and enterprise. In the case 
of food products, and especially with Cuba, the trade did not need 
to wait and the immediate results have been most g^atif^■ino-. If 
this policy and these trade arrangements can be continued in force 
and aided by the establishment of American steamship lines, I do 
not doubt that we shall, within a short period, secure fully one-third 
of the total trade of the countries of Central and South America, 
which now amounts to about $600,000,000 annually. In 1885 we 
had onl)' 8 per cent of this trade. 

The following statistics show the increase in our trade with the 
countries with which we have reciprocal trade agreements from the 
date when such agreements went into effect up to September 30, 
1892, the increase being in some almost wholly and in others in an 
important degree the result of these agreements. 

The domestic exports to Germany and Austria-Hungary have 
increased in value from $47,673,756 to $57,993,064, an increase of 
$10,319,308, or 21.63 per cent. With x\merican countries the value 
of our exports has increased from $44,160,285 to $54,613,598, an 
increase of $10,453,313, or 23.67 per cent. The total increase 
in the value of exports to all the countries with which we have reci- 
procity agreements has been $20,772,621. This increase is chiefly 
in wheat, flour, meat, and dairy products, and in manufactures of iron 
and steel and lumber. There has been a large increase in the value 
of imports from all these countries since the commercial agreements 
went into effect, amounting to $74,294,525, but it has been entirelv 
in imports from the American countries, consisting mostly of sugar, 
coflTee, India rubber, and crude drugs. The alarmed attention of 
our European competitors for the South American market has 
been attracted to this new American policy and to our acquisition 
and their loss of South American trade. 

A treat\- providing for the arbitration of the dispute between Great 
Britain and the United States as to the killing of seals in the Berine 
Sea was concluded on the 29th of February last. This treaty was 



Public Papers and Addresses of Ben jam in Harrison. 135 

accompanied by an agreement prohibiting pelagic sealing pending 
the arbitration, and a vigorons effort was made dnring this season 
to drive out all poaching sealers from the Bering Sea. Six naval 
vessels, three revenue cutters, and one \-esse] from the Fish Com- 
mission, all under the command of Commander Bvans, of the Navy, 
were sent into the sea, which was systematically patrolled. Some 
seizures were made, and it is lielieved that the catch in the Bering 
vSea by poachers amounted to less than 500 seals. It is true, 
however, that in the North Pacific, while the seal herds were on 
their way to the passes between the Aleutian Islands, a very large 
number, probably 35,000, were taken. The existing statutes of the 
United States do not restrain our citizens from taking seals in the 
Pacific Ocean, and perhaps should not, unless the prohibition can 
be extended to the citizens of other nations. I recommend that 
power be given to the President, by proclamation, to prohibit the 
taking of seals in the North Pacific b>' American vessels, in case 
either as the result of the findings of the tribunal of arbitration, or 
otherwise, the restraints can be applied to the vessels of all coun- 
tries. The case of the United vStates for the tribunal of arbitration 
has been prepared with great care and industry by the Hon. John 
W. Foster, and the counsel who represent this Government express 
confidence that a result substantially establishing our claims and 
preser\-ing this great industry for the benefit of all nations will be 
attained. 

During the past year, a suggestion was received through the Brit- 
ish minister that the Canadian Government would like to confer as 
to the possibility of enlarging, upon terms of mutual advantage, 
the commercial exchanges of Canada and of the United States, 
and a conference was held at Washington, with Mr. Blaine acting 
for this Government, and the British mini.ster at this capital and 
three members of the Dominion cabinet acting as commissioners 
on the part of Great Britain. The conference developed the fact 
that the Canadian Government was only prepared to offer to the 
United States, in exchange for the concessions asked, the admission 
of natural products. The statement was frankly made that favored 
rates could not be given to the United States as against the mother 
country. This admission, which was foreseen, necessarily terminated 
the conference upon this question. The benefits of an exchange of 
natural products would be almost wholly with the people of Canada. 
Some other topics of interest were considered in the conference, 
and have resulted in the making of a convention for examining the 
Alaskan boundary and the waters of Passamaquoddy P.av adjacent to 
Eastport, Me., and in the initiation of an arrangement for the jjro- 



136 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

tection of fish life in the coterminous and neighboring waters of 
our northern border. 

The controversy as to tolls upon the Welland Canal, which was 
presented to Congress at the last session by special message, having 
failed of adjustment, I felt constrained to exercise the authority con- 
ferred by the act of Jtily 26, 1892, and to proclaim a suspension of 
the free use of St. Marys Falls Canal to cargoes in transit to ports 
in Canada. The Secretary of the Treasury established such tolls as 
were thought to be equivalent to the exactions unjustly levied upon 
our commerce in the Canadian canals. 

If, as we must suppose, the political relations of Canada and the 
disposition of the Canadian Government are to remain unchanged, 
a somewhat radical revision of our trade relations should, I think, 
be made. Our relations must continue to be intimate, and they 
should be friendly. I regret to .say, however, that in many of the 
controversies, notably those as to the fisheries on the Atlantic, the 
sealing interests on the Pacific, and the canal tolls, otir negotiations 
with Great Britain have continuously been thwarted or retarded by 
unreasonable and unfriendly objections and protests from Canada. 
In the matter of the canal tolls, our treat}- rights were flagrantly 
disregarded. It is hardly too much to say that the Canadian Pacific 
and other railway lines which jDarallel our northern boundary are 
sustained by commerce having either its origin or terminus, or both, 
in the United States. Canadian railroads compete with those of 
the United States for our traffic, and without the restraints of our 
interstate-commerce act. Their cars pass almost without detention 
into and out of our territory. 

The Canadian Pacific Railwa\- brought into the United States 
from China and Japan, via British Columbia, during the year ended 
June 30, 1892, 23,239,689 pounds of freight, and it carried from 
the United States to be shipped to China and Japan, via British 
Columbia, 24,068,346 pounds of freight. There were also .shipped 
from the United States over this road from eastern ports of the 
United States to our Pacific ports, during the same year, 13,912,073 
pounds of freight, and there were received over this road at the 
United States eastern ports from ports on the Pacific coast 13,293,315 
pounds of freight. Mr. Joseph Nimmo, jr., former Chief of the 
Bureau of Statistics, when before the Senate Select Committee on 
Relations with Canada, April 26, 1890, said that "the value of goods 
thus transported between different points in the United States across 
Canadian territory probably amounts to $100,000,000 a vear." 

There is no disposition on the part of the people or Government 
of the United States to interfere in the smallest deijree witli the 



Pnhlic Papers and Addresses of Beujamin Harrison. 137 

political relations of Canada. That question is wholly with her 
own people. It is time for ns, however, to consider whether, if the 
present state of things and trend of things is to continue, our inter- 
changes upon lines of land transportation should not be put upon 
a different basis, and our entire independence of Canadian canals 
and of the St. Lawrence as an outlet to the sea secured by the 
construction of an American canal around the Falls of Niagara 
and the opening of ship communication between the Cireat Lakes 
and one of our own seaports. We should not hesitate to avail our- 
.selves of our great natural trade advantages. We should withdraw 
the support which is given to the railroads and steamship lines 
of Canada by a traffic that properly belongs to us, and no longer 
furuLsh the earnings which lighten the otherwise crushing weight . 
of the enormous public subsidies that have been given to them. 
The subject of the power of the Treasur\- to deal with this matter 
without further legislation has been under consideration, but cir- 
cumstances have postponed a conclusion. It is probable that a 
consideration of the propriety of a modification or abrogation of 
the article of the Treaty of Washington relating to the transit of 
goods in bond is involved in any complete .solution of the question. 

Congress at the last session was kept advised of the progress of the 
serious and for a time threatening differences between the United 
States and Chile. It gives me now great gratification to report that 
the Chilean (lOvernment, in a most friendly and honorable spirit, 
has tendered and paid as an indemnity to the families of the sailors 
of the Baltimnre who were killed and to tho.se who were injured in 
the outbreak in the cit\- of Valparaiso the sum of $75,000. This has 
been accepted, not only as an indemnity for a wrong done, but as a 
most gratifying evidence that the f Tovcrnment of Chile rightly appre- 
ciates the disposition of this Crovernment to act in a spirit of the 
mo.st absolute fairness and friendliness in our intercourse with that 
brave people. A further and conclusi\-e evidence of the mutual 
respect and confidence now existing is furnished by the fact that a 
convention submitting to arbitration the mutual claims of the citi- 
zens of the respective Crovernnients has been agreed upon. Some 
of these claims have been pending for many )-ears and have been 
the occasion of much un.satisfactory diplomatic correspondence. 

I have endeavored in every wa>' to assure our sister republics of 
Central and South America that the United States Oovernment and 
its people have only the most friendly disposition toward them all. 
We do not covet their territory. We have no disposition to be 
oppressive or exacting in our dealings with any of them, even the 
weakest. ( >ur interests and our hopes for them all lie in the direc- 



138 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

tion of stable governments by their people and of the largest 
development of their great commercial resources. The mutual 
benefits of enlarged commercial exchanges and of a more faniilar 
and friendly intercourse between our peoples we do desire, and in 
this have sought their friendly cooperation. 

I have believed, however, while holding these sentiments in the 
greatest sincerity, that we must insist upon a just responsibility for 
any injuries inflicted upon our official representatives or upon our 
citizens. This insistence, kindly and justly, but firmly made, will, 
I believe, promote peace and mutual respect. 

Our relations with Hawaii have been such as to attract an increased 
interest, and must continue to do so. I deem it of great importance 
that the projected submarine cable, a survey for which has been 
made, should be promoted. Both for naval and commercial uses 
we should have quick communication with Honolulu. We should 
before this have availed ourselves of the concession, made many 
years ago to this Government, for a harbor and naval station at 
Pearl River. Many evidences of the friendliness of the Hawaiian 
Government have been given in the past, and it is gratifying to 
believe that the advantage and necessity of a continuance of very 
close relations is appreciated. 

The friendl}' act of this Government in expressing to the Govern- 
ment of Italy its reprobation and abhorrence of the lynching of 
Italian subjects in New Orleans, by the payment of 125,000 francs, 
or $24,330.90, was accepted by the King of Italy with e\ery mani- 
festation of gracious appreciation, and the incident has been highly 
promotive of mutual respect and good will. 

In consequence of the action of the French Government in pro- 
claiming a protectorate over certain tribal districts of the west coast 
of Africa, eastward of the San Pedro River, which has long been 
regarded as the southeastern boundary of Liberia, I have felt 
constrained to make protest against this encroachment upon the 
territory of a Republic which was founded by citizens of the 
United States and toward which this country has for manv years 
held the intimate relation of a friendly counselor. 

The recent disturbances of the public peace by lawless foreign 
marauders on the Mexican frontier have afforded this Government 
an opportunity to testify its good will for Mexico and its earnest 
purpose to fulfill the obligations of international friendship by 
pursuing and dispersing the evil-doers. The work of relocating 
the boundary of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, westward from 
El Paso, is progressing favorably. 

Our intercourse with Spain continues on a friendly footing. I 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bciijaiiiin Harrison. 139 

regret, however, not to be able to report as yet the adjustment of 
the claims of the American missionaries arising from the disorders 
at Ponape, in the Caroline Islands, bnt I anticipate a satisfactory 
adjustment in view of renewed and urgent representations to the 
Government at Madrid. 

The treatment of the religions and educational establishments of 
American citizens in Turkey has of late called for a more than usual 
share of attention. A tendency to curtail the toleration which has 
so beneficialh^ prevailed is discernible and has called forth the 
earnest remonstrances of this Government. Harassing regulations 
in regard to schools and churches have been attempted in certain 
localities, but not without due protest and the assertion of the 
inherent and conventional rights of our countrymen. Violations of 
domicile and search of the persons and effects of citizens of the 
United States by apparently irresponsible officials in the Asiatic 
viU^•ets have from time to time been reported. An aggravated 
instance of injur\' to the property of an American missionary at 
Bourdour, in the province of Konia, called forth an urgent tlaim 
for reparation, which I am pleased to say was promptly heeded 
by the government of the Porte. Interference with the trading- 
ventures of our citizens in Asia Minor is also reported, and the lack 
ot consular representation in that region is a serious drawback to 
instant and effective protection. I can not believe that these 
incidents represent a settled policy, and shall not cease to urge the 
adoption of proper remedies. 

International copyright has been extended to Italy by proclama- 
tion in conformity with the act of March 3, 1891, upon assurance 
being given that Italian law permits to citizens of the United 
States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to 
subjects of Italy. By a special convention, proclaimed Januar\- 15, 
1892, reciprocal provisions of copyright have been applied between 
the United States and Germany. Negotiations are in progress with 
other countries to the same end. 

I repeat with great earnestness the recommendation which I have 
made in several previous messages that prompt and adequate sup- 
port be given to the American company engaged in the construc- 
tion of the Nicaragua Ship Canal. It is impossil)le to overstate the 
value from every standpoint of this great enterprise, and I hope that 
there may be time, even in this Congress, to give to it an impetus that 
will insure the early completion of the canal and .secure to the 
United States its proper relation to it when completed. 

The Congress has been already advi.sed that the invitations of 
this Government for the assembling of an International Monetary 



140 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

Conference to consider the question of an enlarged use of silver 
were accepted by the nations to which they were addressed. The 
conference assembled at Brussels on the 2 2d of November and has 
entered upon the consideration of this great question. I have not 
doubted, and have taken occasion to express that belief, as well in 
the invitations issued for this conference as in my public messages, 
that the free coinage of silver upon an agreed international ratio 
would greath- promote the interests of our people and equally those 
of other nations. It is too early to predict what results may be 
accomplished by the conference. If any temporary' check or delay 
intervenes, I believe that very soon commercial conditions will com- 
pel the now reluctant governments to unite with us in this movement 
to secure the enlargement of the volume of coined money needed for 
the transaction of the business of the world. 

The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will attract especial 
interest in view of the many misleading statements that have been 
made as to the state of the public revenues. Three preliminary 
facts .should not only be stated, but emphasized, before looking into 
details: First, that the public debt has been reduced since March 4, 
1889, $259,074,200, and the annual interest charge $11,684,469; 
second, that there have been paid out for pensions during this admin- 
istration up to November i, 1892, $432,564,178.70, an excess of 
$114,466,386.09 over the sum expended during the period from 
March i, 1885, to March i, 1889; and, third, that under the existing 
tariff up to December i about $93,000,000 of revenue, which would 
have been collected upon imported sugars if the duty had been main- 
tained, has gone into the pockets of the people and not into the 
public treasury, as before. If there are any who still think that 
the surplus should have been kept out of circulation by hoarding it 
in the Treasury', or deposited in favored banks without interest 
while the Government continued to pay to these very banks interest 
upon the bonds deposited as security for the deposits, or who tliink 
that the extended pension legislation was a public robber\', or that 
the duties upon sugar should have been maintained, I am content 
to leax-e the argument where it now rests, while we wait to see 
whether these criticisms will take the form of legislation. 

The revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, from all 
sources, were $425,868,260. 22, and the expenditures for all purposes 
were $415,953,806.56, leaving a balance of $9,914,453.66. There 
were paid during the year upon the public debt $40,570,467.98. 
The surplus in the Treasury and the bank redemption fund, passed 
by the act of July 14, 1890, to the general fund, furnished in large 
part the cash available and used for the payments made upon the 



Puhlic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 141 

public debt. Compared with the year 1S91, our receipts from cus- 
toms duties fell off $42, 069, 241. 08, while our receipts from internal 
revenue increased #8,284,823.13, leaving the net loss of revenue 
from these principal sources 5^33,784,417.95. The net loss of reve- 
nue from all sources was $32,675,972.81. 

The revenues, estimated and actual, for the fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1893, ^''^ placed by the Secretary at $463,336,350.44 and 
the expenditures at $461,336,350.44, showing a .surplus of receipts 
over expenditures of $2,000,000. The cash balance in the Treasury 
at the end of the fiscal year it is estimated will be $20,992,377.03. 

So far as these figures are ba.sed upon estimates of receipts and 
expenditures for the remaining months of the current fi.scal year, 
there are not only the usual elements of uncertainty, but some 
added elements. New revenue legislation, or even the expectation 
of it, may seriously reduce the public revenues during the period of 
uncertainty and during the process of business adjustment to the 
new conditions when they become known. But the Secretary has 
very wisely refrained from guessing as to the effect of possible 
changes in our re\enue laws, since the scope of those changes 
and the time of their taking effect can not in any degree be fore- 
cast or foretold by him. His estimates must be based upon existing 
laws and upon a continuance of existing busine.ss conditions, 
except so far as these conditions may be affected by causes other 
than new legislation. 

The estimated receipts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, are 
$490,121,365.38, and the estimated appropriations $457,261,335.33, 
leaving an estimated surplus of receipts over expenditures of 
$32,860,030.05. This does not include any payment to the sinking 
ftind. In the recommendation of the Secretary that the sinking- 
fund law be repealed I concur. The redemption of bonds since 
the passage of the law to June 30, 1892, has already exceeded the 
requirements by the sum of $990,510,681.49. The retirement of 
bonds in the future before maturity should be a matter of conve- 
nience, not of compulsion. We should not collect revenue for 
that purpose, but only use any casual surplus. To the balance of 
$32,860,030.05 of receipts over expenditures for the year 1894 
should be added the estimated surplus at the beginning of the vear, 
$20,992,377.03 ; and from this aggregate there must be deducted, 
as stated by the Secretar)', about $44,000,000 of estimated unex- 
pended appropriations. 

The public confidence in the purpose and ability of the Govern- 
ment to maintain the parity of all of our money i.ssues, whether 
coin or paper, must remain unshaken. The demand for gold in 



142 Public Papers ami Addresses of Bciija»an JIarrisou. 

Europe and the coiisccjuent calls wpow us are in a considerable 
degree the result of the efibrts of some of the European go\'ern- 
ments to increase their gold reserves, and these efforts should 
be met by appropriate legislation on our part. The conditions 
that have created this drain of the Treasury gold are in an impor- 
tant degree political and not commercial. In view of the fact that 
a general revision of our revenue laws in the near future seem^ 
to be probable, it would be better that any changes should be a part 
of that revision rather than of a temporary nature. 

During the last fiscal year the Secretary purchased under the act 
of July 14, 1890, 54,355,748 ounces of silver, and issued in payment 
therefor #51,106,608 in notes. The total purchases since the pas- 
sage of the act have been 120,479,981 ounces, and the aggregate of 
notes issued $1 16,783,590. The average price paid for silver diiring 
the year was 94 cents per ounce, the highest price being $1.02^4 
July 1, 1891, and the lowest 83 cents March 21, 1892. In view of the 
fact that the monetary conference is now sitting and that no con- 
clusion has yet been reached, I withhold any recommendation as to 
legislation upon this subject. 

The report of the Secretary of War brings again to the attention 
of Congress some important suggestions as to the reorganization of 
the infantry and artillery arms of the service, which his predeces- 
sors have before urgently presented. Our Army is small, but its 
organization should all the more be put upon the most approved 
modern basis. The conditions upon what we have called the 
"frontier" have heretofore required the maintenance of many small 
posts, but now the policy of concentration is obviously the right 
one. The new posts should have the proper strategic relations to 
the only "frontiers" we now have, those of the seacoast and of our 
northern and part of our southern boundary. I do not think that 
any question of advantage to localities or to States should determine 
the location of the new posts. The reorganization and enlarge- 
ment of the Bureau of Military Information which the Secretary 
has effected is a work the usefulness of which will become every 
year more apparent. The work of building heavy guns and the 
construction of coast defenses has been well begun and should be 
carried on without check. 

The report of the Attorney-General is by law submitted directlv 
to Congress, but I can not refrain from saying that he has conducted 
the increasing work of the Department of Justice with great pro- 
fessional skill. He has in several directions secured from the courts 
decisions giving increased protection to the officers of the United 
States and bringing some classes of crime that escaped local cogni- 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 14 :; 

zance and punishment into the tribunals of the United States, where 
they could be tried with impartiality. 

The numerous applications for Executive clemency presented in 
behalf of persons convicted in United States courts and given peni- 
tentiary sentences have called my attention to a fact referred to by 
the Attorney-General in his report, namely, that a time allowance 
for good beha\ior for such prisoners is prescribed by the Federal 
statutes only where the State in wliich the penitentiary is located 
has made no such provision. Prisoners are given the benefit of 
the provisions of the State law regulating the penitentiary to 
which they may be sent. These are various, some perhaps too 
liberal and some perhaps too illiberal. The result is that a sen- 
tence for five years means one thing if the prisoner is sent to one 
State for confinement and quite a different thing if he is sent to 
another. I recommend that a uniform credit for good behavior be 
prescribed by Congress. 

I have before expressed my concurrence in the recommendation 
of the Attorney-General that degrees of murder should be recog- 
nized in the Federal statutes as they are, I believe, in all the 
States. These grades are founded on correct distinctions in crime. 
The recognition of them would enable the courts to exercise some 
discretion in apportioning punishment, and would greatly relieve 
the Executive of what is coming to be a very heavy burden — the 
examination of these cases on application for commutation. 

The aggregate of claims pending against the Government in the 
Court of Claims is enormous. Claims to the amount of nearly 
$400,000,000 for the taking of or injur\- to the property of per- 
sons claiming to be loyal during the war are now before that court 
for examination. When to these are added the Indian depredation 
claims and the French spoliation claims an aggregate is reached 
that is indeed startling. In the defense of all these cases the Gov- 
ernment is at great disadvantage. The claimants have preserved 
their evidence, whereas the agents of the Government are sent into 
the field to rummage for what they can find. This difficulty is 
peculiarly great where the fact to be established is the disloyalty 
of the claimant during the war. If this great threat against our rev- 
enues is to have no other check certainly Congress should supply 
the Department of Justice with appropriations sufficienth- liberal 
to secure the best legal talent in the defense of these claims and 
to pursue its vague search for evidence effectively. 

The report of the Postmaster-General shows a most gratifying 
increase and a most efficient and progressive management of the 
great business of that Department. The remarkable increase in 



144 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

revenues, in the number of post-offices, and in the miles of mail 
carriage furnishes further evidence of the high state of prosperity 
which our people are enjoying. New offices mean new hamlets 
and towns, new routes mean the extension of our border settle- 
ments, and increased revenues mean an active commerce. The 
Postmaster-General reviews the whole period of his administration 
of the office and brings some of his statistics down to the mouth 
of November last. The postal revenues have increased during tlie 
last year nearh- #5,000,000. The deficit for the year ending June 
30, 1892, is $848,341 less than the deficiency of the preceding year. 
The deficiency of the present fiscal year it is estimated will be 
reduced to $1,552,423, which will not only be extinguished during 
the next fiscal year, but a surplus of nearh- $1,000,000 should then 
be shown. In these calculations the payments to be made under 
the contracts for ocean mail service have not been included. There 
have been added 1,590 new mail routes during the year, with a 
mileage of 8,563 miles; and the total number of new miles of mail 
trips added during the year is nearly 17,000,000. The number of 
miles of mail journeys added during the last four years is about 
76,000,000, this addition being 21,000,000 of miles more than were 
in operation in the whole country in 1861. 

The number of post-offices has been increased by 2, 790 during the 
vear, and during the past four years and up to October 29 last the 
total increase in the number of offices has been nearly 9,000. The 
number of free-deliver\- offices has been nearly doubled in the 
last four years, and the number of mone\-order offices more than 
doubled within that time. 

For the three years ending June 30, 1892, the postal revenue 
amounted to $197,744,359, which was an increase of $52,263, 150 
over the revenue for the three years ending June 30, 1888, the in- 
crease during the last three years being more than three and a half 
times as great as the increase during the three years ending June 
30, 1888. No such increase as that shown for these three years 
has ever previously appeared in the revenues of the Department. 
The Postmaster-General has extended to the post-offices in the 
larger cities the merit system of promotion, introduced by my direc- 
tion into the Departments here, and it has resulted there, as in the 
Departments, in a larger volume of work and that better done. 

Ever since our merchant marine was driven from the sea by the 
rebel cruisers during the war of the rebellion the United States has 
been paying an enormous annual tribute to foreign countries in the 
shape of freight and passage moneys. Our grain and meats have 
been taken at our own docks and our large imports there laid down 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijai>ii)i I {arrisoii. 145 

by foreign shipmasters. An increasing torrent of American travel 
to Enrope has contribnted a vast sum annnally to the dividends of 
foreign shipowners. Tlie balance of trade shown by the books of 
onr cnstora-houses has been very largely rednced and in many years 
altogether extingnished by this constant drain. In the year 1892 
only 12.3 per cent of onr imports were bronght in American vessels. 
These great foreign steamships maintained by onr traffic are many 
of them under contracts with their respective governments by which 
in time of war they will become a part of their armed naval estab- 
lishments. Profiting by our commerce in peace, the\- will become 
the most formidable destroyers of our commerce in time of war. 
I have felt and have before expressed the feeling that this condi- 
tion of things was both intolerable and disgraceful. A wholesome 
change of polic\' and one having in it much promise, as it seems to 
me, was begun by the law of March 3, 1891. Under this law con- 
tracts have been made by the Postmaster-General for eleven mail 
routes. The expenditure involved by these contracts for the next 
fiscal year approximates $954,123.33. As one of the results already- 
reached 16 American steamships of an aggregate tonnage of 57,400 
tons, costing $7,400,000, have been built or contracted to be built 
in American shipyards. 

The estimated tonnage of all steamships required under existing 
contracts is 165,802, and when the full service required by these 
contracts is established there will be iorty-one mail steamers under 
the American flag, with the probability of further necessary additions 
in the Brazilian and Argentine service. The contracts recently let 
for transatlantic service will result in the construction of five ships 
of 10,000 tons each, costing $9,000,000 or $10,000,000, and will 
add, with the City of Neiv York and City of Paris, to which the 
Treasury Department was authorized by legislation at the last 
session to give American registry, seven of the swiftest vessels 
upon the sea to our naval reserve. The contracts made with the 
lines sailing to Central and South American ports have increased 
the frequency and shortened the time of the trips, added new ports 
of call, and sustained some lines that otherwise would almost cer- 
tainly have been withdrawn. The service to Buenos Ayres is the 
first to the Argentine Republic under the American flag. The 
service to Southampton, Boulogne, and Antwerp is also new, and 
is to be begun with the steamships City of New York and Citv of 
Paris in February next. 

1 earnestly urge a continuance of the policy inaugurated by this 
legislation and that the appropriations required to meet the obliga- 
tions of the Government under the contracts ma\- be made promptly, 
151.51 10 



146 Public Papers and Addresses of Bei/Jainin Harrison. 

so that the lines that have entered into these engagements may 
not be embarrassed. We have had, by reason of connections 
with the transcontinental railway lines constructed through our 
own territory, some advantages in the ocean trade of the Pacific 
that we did not possess on the Atlantic. The construction of the 
Canadian Pacific Railway and the establishment under large subven- 
tions from Canada and England of fast steamship service from 
Vancouver with Japan and China seriously threaten our shipping 
interests in the Pacific. This line of English steamers receives, 
as is stated by the Commissioner of Navigation, a direct subsidy 
of $400,000 annually, or $30,767 per trip for thirteen voyages, in 
addition to some further aid from the admiralty in connection 
with contracts under which the vessels may be used for naval pur- 
poses. The competing American Pacific mail line, under the act 
of March 3, 1891, receives only $6,389 per round trip. 

EflTorts have been making within the last year, as I am informed, 
to establish under similar conditions a line between Vancouver and 
some Australian port, with a view of seizing there a trade in which 
we have had a large interest. The Commissioner of Navigation 
states that a very large per cent of our imports from Asia are now 
brought to us by English steamships and their connecting railways 
in Canada. With a view of promoting this trade, especially in tea, 
Canada has imposed a discriminating duty of 10 per cent upon tea 
and coffee brought into the Dominion from the United States. If 
this unequal contest between American lines without subsid}-, or 
with diminished subsidies, and the English Canadian line to which 
I have referred is to continue, I think we should at least see that 
the facilities for customs entry and transportation across our terri- 
tory are not such as to make the Canadian route a favored one, and 
that the discrimination as to duties, to which I have referred, is 
met by a like discrimination as to the importation of these articles 
from Canada. 

No subject, I think, more nearly touches the pride, the power, 
and the prosperity of our country than this of the development of 
our merchant marine upon the sea. If we could enter into con- 
ference with other competitors and all would agree to withhold 
Government aid we could perhaps take our chances with the rest, 
but our great competitors have established and maintained their 
lines by Government subsidies until they now have practically 
excluded us from participation. In my opinion no choice is left to 
us but to pursue, moderately at least, the same lines. 

The report of the Secretary of the Navy exhibits great progress 
in the construction of our new Navy. When the present Secretary 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 147 

entered upon his duties only 3 modern steel vessels were in com- 
mission. The vessels since put in commission and to be put in 
commission duriuo; the winter will make a total of 19 during his 
administration of the Department. During the current year 10 war 
vessels and 3 navy tugs have been launched, and during the four 
years 25 vessels will have been lamiched. Two other large ships 
and a torpedo boat are under contract and the work upon them well 
advanced, and the 4 monitors are awaiting only the arrival of 
their armor, which has been unexpectedly delayed, or they would 
have been before this in commission. 

Contracts have been let during this administration, under the 
appropriations for the increa.se of the Navy, including new vessels 
and their appurtenances, to the amount of $35,000,000, and there 
has been expended during the same period for labor at navy-yards 
upon similar work $8,000,000 without the smallest scandal or charge 
of fraud or partiality. The enthusiasm and interest of our naval 
officers, both of the staff and line, have been greatly kindled. 
They have responded magnificently to the confidence of Congress 
and have demonstrated to the world an unexcelled capacity in con- 
struction, in ordnance, and in everything involved in the building, 
equipping, and sailing of great war ships. 

At the beginning of Secretary Tracy's administration several 
difficult problems remained to be grappled with and solved before 
the efficiency in action of our ships could be secured. It is believed 
that as the result of new processes in the construction of armor 
plate our later ships will be clothed with defensive plates of higher 
resisting power than are found on any war vessels afloat. We were 
without torpedoes. Tests have been made to ascertain the relative 
efficiency of different constructions, a torpedo has been adopted, and 
the work of construction is now being carried on successfully. We 
were without armor-piercing shells, and without a shop instructed 
and equipped for the construction of them. We are now making 
what is believed to be a projectile superior to any before in use. A 
smokeless powder has been developed, and a slow-burning powder 
for guns of large caliber. A high explosive, capable of use in shells 
fired from service guns, has been found, and the manufacture of gun 
cotton has been developed so that the question of supply is no longer 
in doubt. 

The development of a naval militia, which has been organized in 
eight States and brought into cordial and cooperative relations 
with the Navy, is another important achievement. There are now 
enlisted in these organizations 1,800 men, and they are likel)' to be 
greatlv extended. I recommend such legislation and appropriations 



148 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

as will encourage and develop this movement. The recommenda- 
tions of the Secretarywill, I do not doubt, receive the friendly con- 
sideration of Congress, for he has enjoyed, as he has deserved, the 
confidence of all those interested in the development of our Navy, 
without any division upon partisan lines. I earnestly express the 
hope that a work which has made such noble progress ma}- not now 
be stayed. The wholesome influence for peace and the increased 
sense of security which our citizens domiciled in other lands feel 
when these magnificent ships under the American flag appear is 
already most gratefully apparent. The ships from our Navy 
which will appear in the great naval parade next April in the 
harbor of New York will be a convincing demonstration to the 
world that the United States is again a naval power. 

The work of the Interior Department, always very burdensome, 
has been larger than ever before during the administration of Sec- 
retary Noble. The disability pension law, the taking of the Eleventh 
Census, the opening of vast areas of Indian lands to settlement, the 
organization of Oklahoma, and the negotiations for the cession of 
Indian lands furnish some of the particulars of the increased work; 
and the results achieved testify to the ability, fidelity, and industry 
of the head of the Department and his efficient assistants. 

Several important agreements for the cession of Indian lands 
negotiated by the Commission appointed under the act of March 2, 
1889, are awaiting the action of Congress. Perhaps the most impor- 
tant of these is that for the cession of the Cherokee Strip. This 
region has been the source of great vexation to the Executive 
Department and of great friction and unrest between the settlers 
who desire to occupy it and the Indians who assert title. The 
agreement which has been made by the Commission is perhaps the 
most satisfactory that could have been reached. It will be noticed 
that it is conditioned upon its ratification by Congress before March 
4, 1893. The Secretary of the Interior, who has given the subject 
very careful thought, recommends the ratification of the agreement, 
and I am inclined to follow his recommendation. Certain it is that 
some action by which this controversy shall be brought to an end 
and these lands opened to settlement is urgent. 

The form of government provided by Congress on May 17, 1884, 
for Alaska was, in its frame and purpose, temporary. The increase 
of population and the development of some important mining and 
commercial interests make it imperative that the law should be 
revised and better provision made for the arrest and punishment 
of criminals. 

The report of the Secretary shows a very gratifying state of 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 149 

facts as to the condition of the General Land Office. The work 
of issning agricultural patents, which seemed to be hopelessly in 
arrear when the present Secretary undertook the duties of his 
office, has been so expedited that the Bureau is now upon current 
business. The relief thus afforded to honest and worthy settlers 
upon the public lands, by giving to them an assured title to their 
entries, has been of incalculable benefit in developing the new 
States and the Territories. 

The Court of Private Land Claims, established h\ Congress for 
the promotion of this policy of speedily settling contested land titles 
is making satisfactory progress in its work, and when the work is 
completed a great impetus will be given to the development of 
those regions where unsettled claims under Mexican grants have so 
long exercised their repressive influence. When to these results 
are added the enormous cessions of Indian lands which have been 
opened to settlement, aggregating during this administration nearly 
26,000,000 acres, and the agreements negotiated and now pending 
in Congress for ratification b>' which about 10,000,000 additional 
acres will be opened to settlement, it will be seen how much has 
been accomplished. 

The work in the Indian Bureau, in the execution of the policy of 
recent legislation, has been largely directed to two chief purposes: 
First, the allotment of lands in severalty to the Indians and the 
cession to the United States of the surplus lands; and, secondly, to 
the work of educating the Indian for his own protection in his 
closer contact with the white man and for the intelligent exercise of 
his new citizenship. Allotments ha\'e been made and patents issued 
to 5,900 Indians under the present Secretary and Commissioner, and 
7,600 additional allotments have been made for which patents are 
now in process of preparation. The school attendance of Indian 
children has been increased during that time over 13 per cent, the 
enrollment for 1892 being nearly 20,000. A uniform .system of 
school text-books and of study has been adopted and the work in 
these national schools brought as near as may be to the basis of the 
free common schools of the States. These schools can be transferred 
and merged into the common-school systems of the States when the 
Indian has fully assumed his new relation to the organized civil 
comniunit\- in which he resides, and the new States are able to 
assume the burden. 

I have several times been called upon to remove Indian agents 
appointed b\- me, and have done so promptly upon every sustained 
complaint of unfitness or misconduct. I believe, however, that 
the Indian service at the agencies has been improved and is now 



150 Public Papers mid Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

administered on the whole with a good degree of efficiency. If any 
legislation is possible by which the selection of Indian agents can 
be wholly removed from all partisan suggestions or considerations, 
I am sure it would be a great relief to the Executive and a great 
benefit to the service. The appropriation for the subsistence of the 
Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians made at the last session of Congress 
was inadequate. This smaller appropriation was estimated for by 
the Commissioner upon the theory that the large fund belonging 
to the tribe in the public Treasury could be and ought to be used 
for their support. In view, however, of the pending depredation 
claims against this fund and other considerations, the Secretary 
of the Interior on the 12th of April last submitted a supplemental 
estimate for ;S50,ooo. This appropriation was not made, as it should 
have been, and the oversight ought to be remedied at the earliest 
possible date. 

In a special message to this Congress at the last session I stated 
the reasons why I had not approved the deed for the release to 
the United States by the Choctaws and Chickasaws of the lands 
formerly embraced in the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Reservation and 
remaining after allotments to that tribe. A resolution of the 
Senate expressing the opinion of that body that, notwithstanding 
the facts stated in my special message, the deed should be approved 
and the money, $2,991,450, paid over, was presented to me May 
10, 1892. My special message was intended to call the attention of 
Congress to the subject, and in view of the fact that it is conceded 
that the appropriation proceeded upon a false basis as to the amount 
of lands to be paid for, and is by $50,000 in excess of the amount 
they are entitled to (even if their claim to the land is given full 
recognition at the rate agreed upon), I have not felt willing to 
approve the deed, and shall not do so, at least until both Houses of 
Congress have acted upon the subject. It has been informally 
proposed by the claimants to release this sum of $50,000, but I 
have no power to demand or accept such a release, and such an 
agreement would be without consideration and void. 

o 

I desire further to call the attention of Congress to the fact that 
the recent agfreement concluded with the Kiowas and Comanches 
relates to lands which were a part of the "leased district," and to 
which the claim of the Choctaws and Chickasaws is precisely that 
recognized by Congress in the legislation I have referred to. The 
surplus lands to which this claim would attach in the Kiowa and 
Comanche Reservation is 2,500,000 acres, and at the same rate 
the Government will be called upon to pay to the Choctaws and 
Chickasaws for these lands $3, 125,000. This sum will be further 



Public Papers aud Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 151 

augmented, especially if the title of the Indians to the tract now 
Grter County, Tex., is established. The dut>- devolved upon me in 
this connection was simply to pass upon the form of the deed; but 
as in my opinion the facts mentioned in my special message were 
not adequately brought to the attention of Congress in connection 
with the legislation, I have felt that I would not be justified in 
acting without some new expression of the legislative will. 

The report of the Commissioner of Pensions, to which extended 
notice is given by the Secretary of the Interior in his report, will 
attract great attention. Judged by the aggregate amount of work 
done the last year has been the greatest in the history of the Office. 
I believe that the organization of the Office is efficient, and that the 
work has been done with fidelity. The passage of what is known 
as the disability bill has, as was foreseen, very largely increased the 
annual disbursements to the disabled veterans of the civil war. 
The estimate for this fiscal year was $144,956,000, and that amount 
was appropriated. A deficiency amounting to $10,508,621 must 
be provided for at this session. The estimate for pensions for the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, is $165,000,000. The Commis- 
sioner of Pensions believes that, if the present legislation and 
methods are maintained and further additions to the pension laws 
are not made, the maximum expenditure for pensions will be 
reached June 30, 1894, and will be at the highest point $188,000,000 

per annum. 

I adhere to the views expressed in previous messages that the care 
of the disabled soldiers of the war of the rebellion is a matter of 
national concern and duty. Perhaps no emotion cools sooner than 
that of gratitude, but I can not believe that this process has yet 
reached'a point with our people that would sustain the policy of 
remitting the care of these disabled veterans to the inadequate 
agencies^ provided by local laws. The parade on the 20th of 
September last, upon the streets of this capital, of 60,000 of the 
surviving Union veterans of the war of the rebellion was a most 
touching'and thrilling episode, and the rich and gracious welcome 
extended to them by the District of Columbia and the applause 
that greeted their progress from tens of thousands of people from 
all the States did much to revive the glorious recollections of the 
"rand review, when these men and many thousand others now in 
their graves were welcomed with grateful joy as victors in a struggle 
in which the national unity, honor, and wealth were all at issue. 

In my last annual message I called attention to the fact that some 
legislati\'e action was necessary in order to protect the interests of 
th'e Government in its relations with the Union Pacific Railway. 



152 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

The Commissioner of Railroads has submitted a very full report, 
giving exact information as to the debt, the liens upon the com- 
pany's property, and its resources. We must deal with the question 
as we find it, and take that course which will, under existing 
conditions, best secure the interests of the United States. I recom- 
mended in my last annual message that a commission be appointed 
to deal with this question, and I renew that recommendation, and 
suggest that the commission be given full power. 

The report of the Secretary of Agriculture contains not only a 
most interesting statement of the progressive and valuable work 
done under the administration of Secretary Rusk, but many sug- 
gestions for the enlarged usefulness of this important Department. 
In the successful effort to break down the restrictions to the free 
introduction of our meat products in the countries of Europe, the 
Secretary has been untiring from the first, stimulating and aiding all 
other government officers, at home and abroad, whose official duties 
enabled them to participate in the work. The total trade in hog 
products with Europe in May, 1892, amounted to 82,000,000 pounds, 
against 46,900,000 in the same month of 1891; in June, 1892, the 
exports aggregated 85,700,000 pounds, against 46, 500, 000 pounds in 
the same month of the previous year; in July there was an increase 
of 41 per cent and in August of 55 per cent over the corresponding 
months of 1891. Over 40,000,000 pounds of inspected pork have 
been exported since the law was put into operation, and a compari- 
son of the four months of May, June, July, and August, 1892, with the 
same months of 1891 shows an increase in the number of pounds 
of our export of pork products of 62 per cent, and an increase in 
value of 66>< per cent. The exports of dressed beef increased 
from 137,900,000 pounds in 1889 to 220,500,000 pounds in 1892, or 
about 60 per cent. During the past year there have been exported 
394,607 head of live cattle as against 205, 786 exported in 1889. This 
increased exportation has been largely promoted by the inspection 
authorized by law and the faithful effiDrts of the Secretary and his 
efficient subordinates to make that inspection thorough and to care- 
fully exclude from all cargoes diseased or suspected cattle. The 
requirement of the English regulations that live cattle arriving 
from the United States must be slaughtered at the docks had its 
origin in the claim that pleuro-pneumonia existed among American 
cattle and that the existence of the disease could only certainly be 
determined by a post-mortem inspection. 

The Department of Agriculture has labored with great energy 
and faithfulness to extirpate this disease; and, on the 26th day of 
September last, a public announcement was made by the Secretary 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 153 

that the disease no longer existed anywhere within tlie United 
States. He is entirel)- satisfied, after the most searching inqniry, 
that this statement was justified, and that by a continuance of 
the inspection and quarantine now required of cattle brought into 
this country the disease can be prevented from again getting any 
foothold. The value to the cattle industry of the United States of 
this achievement can hardly be estimated. We can not, perhaps, 
at once insist that this evidence shall be accepted as satisfactory 
by other countries ; but if the present exemption from the disease 
is maintained and the inspection of our cattle arriving at foreign 
ports, in which our own veterinarians participate, confirms it, we 
may justly expect that the requirement that our cattle. shall be 
slaughtered at the docks will be revoked, as the sanitary restrictions 
upon our pork products have been. If our cattle can be taken alive 
to the interior the trade will be enormously increased. 

Agricultural products constituted 78. i per cent of our unprece- 
dented exports for the fiscal year which closed June 30, 1892, the 
total exports being $1,030,278,030 and the value of the agricultural 
products $793,717,676, which exceeds by more than $150,000,000 
the shipment of agricultural products in any previous year. 

An interesting and a promising work for the benefit of the Amer- 
ican farmer has been begun through agents of the Agricultural 
Department in Europe, and consists in efforts to introduce the 
various products of Indian corn as articles of human food. The 
high price of rye offered a favorable opportunity for the experiment 
in Germany of combining corn meal with rye to produce a cheaper 
bread. A fair degree of success has been attained, and some mills 
for grinding corn for food have been introduced. The Secretary 
is of the opinion that this new use of the products of corn has 
already stimulated exportations, and that if diligently prosecuted 
large and important markets can presently be opened for this great 
American product. 

The suggestions of the Secretary for an enlargement of the w^ork 
of the Department are commended to your favorable consideration. 
It may, I think, be said without challenge that in no corresponding 
period has so much been done as during the last four years for the 
benefit of American agriculture. 

The subject of quarantine regulations, inspection, and control 
was brought suddenly to my attention by the arrival at our ports in 
August last of vessels infected with cholera. Quarantine regulations 
should be uniform at all our ports. Under the Constitution they 
are plaiul\- within the exclusive Federal jurisdiction when and so 
far as Congress shall legislate. In my opinion the whole subject 



154 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

should be taken into national control, and adequate power given to 
the Executive to protect our people against plague invasions. On 
the ist of September last I approved regulations establishing a 
twenty-day quarantine for all vessels bringing immigrants from 
foreign ports. This order will be continued in force. Some loss and 
suffering have resulted to passengers, but a due care for the homes 
of our people justifies in such cases the utmost precaution. There is 
danger that with the coming of spring cholera will again appear, and 
a liberal appropriation should be made at this session to enable our 
quarantine and port officers to exclude the deadly plague. 

But the most careful and stringent quarantine regulations may 
not be sufficient absolutely to exclude the disease. The progress 
of medical and sanitary science has been such, however, that if 
approved precautions are taken at once to put all of our cities and 
towns in the best sanitary condition, and provision is made for 
isolating any sporadic cases and for a thorough disinfection, an 
epidemic can, I am sure, be avoided. This work appertains to local 
authorities, and the responsibility and the penalty will be appalling 
if it is neglected or unduly delayed. 

We are peculiarly subject in our great ports to the spread of 
infectious diseases by reason of the fact that unrestricted immigration 
brings to us out of European cities, in the overcrowded steerages 
of great steam.ships, a large number of persons whose surroundings 
make them the easy victims of the plague. This consideration, as 
well as those affecting the political, moral, and industrial interests of 
our country, lead me to renew the suggestion that admission to our 
country and to the high privileges of its citizenship should be more 
restricted and more careful. We have, I think, a right and owe a 
duty to our own people, and especially to our working people, not 
only to keep out the vicious, the ignorant, the civil disturber, the 
pauper, and the contract laborer, but to check the too great flow of 
immigration now coming by further limitations. 

The report of the World's Columbian Exposition has not yet been 
submitted. That of the board of management of the Government 
exhibit has been received and is herewith transmitted. The work 
of construction and of preparation for the opening of the Exposition 
in May next has progressed most satisfactorily and upon a scale 
of liberality and magnificence that will worthily sustain the honor 
of the United States. 

The District of Columbia is left, by a decision of the supreme 
court of the District, without any law regulating the liquor traffic. 
An old statute of the legislature of the District, relating to the 
licensing of various vocations, has hitherto been treated by the 



Public Papers and Addresses of Ben/amiii Harrison. 155 

Commissioners as giving them power to grant or refnse licenses to 
sell intoxicating liqnors, and as subjecting those who sold without 
license to penalties; but in May last the supreme court of the 
District held against this view of the powers of the Commissioners. 
It is of urgent importance, therefore, that Congress should supply, 
either by direct enactment or by conferring discretionary powers 
upon the Commissioners, proper limitations and restraints upon the 
liquor traffic in the District. The District has suffered in its 
reputation by many crimes of violence, a large per cent of them 
resulting from dnuikenness and the liquor traffic. The capital of 
the nation should be freed from this reproach by the enactment of 
stringent restrictions and limitations upon the traffic. 

In renewing the recommendation which I have made in three 
preceding annual messages that Congress should legislate for the 
protection of railroad employes against the dangers incident to the 
old and inadequate methods of braking and coupling which are 
still in use upon freight trains, I do so with the hope that this 
Congress may take action upon the subject. Statistics furnished by 
the Interstate Commerce Commission show that during the year 
ending June 30, 1891, there were 47 different styles of car couplers 
reported to be in use, and that during the same period there were 
2,660 emplo)'es killed and 26,140 injured. Nearly 16 per cent of 
the deaths occurred in the coupling and uncoupling of cars, and 
over 36 per cent of the injuries had the .same origin. 

The Civil Service Commission ask for an increased appropriation 
for needed clerical assistance, which I think should be given. I 
extended the classified service March i, 1892, to include physicians, 
superintendents, assistant superintendents, school teachers, and 
matrons in the Indian service, and have had under consideration 
the subject of some further extensions, but have not as yet fully 
determined the lines upon which extensions can most properly and 
usefully be made. 

I have, in each of the three annual messages which it has been 
my duty to submit to Congress, called attention to the evils and 
dangers connected with our election methods and practices as they 
are related to the choice of officers of the National Government. 
In mv last annual message I endeavored to invoke serious attention 
to the evils of inifair apportionments for Congress. I can not close 
this message without again calling attention to these grave and 
threatening evils. I had hoped that it was possible to secure a 
nonpartisan inquiry, by means of a commission, into evils the 
existence of which is known to all, and that out of this might 
grow legislation from which all thought of partisan advantage should 



1 56 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

be eliminated and only the higher thought appear of maintaining 
the freedom and purity of the ballot and the equality of the elector, 
without the guaranty of which the Government could never have 
been formed and without the continuance of which it can not con- 
tinue to exist in peace and prosperity. 

It is time that mutual charges of unfairness and fraud between the 
great parties should cease, and that the sincerity of those who pro- 
fess a desire for pure and honest elections should be brought to the 
test of their willingness to free our legislation and our election 
methods from everything that tends to impair the public confidence 
in the announced result. The necessity for an inquiry, and for leg- 
islation by Congress, upon this subject is emphasized by the fact that 
the tendency of the legislation in some States in recent years has in 
some important particulars been away from and not toward free and 
fair elections and equal apportionments. Is it not time that we 
should come together upon the high plane of patriotism while we 
devise methods that shall secure the right of every man qualified by 
law to cast a free ballot and give to every such ballot an equal value 
in choosing our public officers and in directing the policy of the 
Government? 

Lawlessness is not less such, but more, where it usurps the func- 
tions of the peace officer and of the courts. The frequent lynching 
of colored people accused of crime is without the excuse which has 
sometimes been urged by mobs for a failure to pursue the appointed 
methods for the punishment of crime, that the accused have an 
undue influence over courts and juries. Such acts are a reproach 
to the community where they occur, and so far as they can be made 
the subject of Federal jurisdiction the strongest repressive legislation 
is demanded. A public sentiment that will sustain the officers of 
the law in resisting mobs and in protecting accused persons in their 
custody should be promoted by every possible means. The officer 
who gives his life in the brave discharge of this duty is worthy of 
special honor. No lesson needs to be so urgently impressed upon 
our people as this, that no worthy end or cause can be promoted by 
lawlessness. 

This exhibit of the work of the Executive Departments is submit- 
ted to Congress and to the public in the hope that there will be 
found in it a due sense of responsibility and an earnest purpose to 
maintain the national honor and to promote the happiness and 
prosperity of all our people. And this brief exhibit of the growth 
and prosperity of the country will give us a level from which to 
note the increase or decadence that new legislative policies may 
bring to us. There is no reason why the national influence, 



Public Papers and Addresses of Be)ijaniiii Harrison. 157 

power, and prosperity slioiild not observe the same rates of increase 
that have characterized tlie past tliirty years. We carry the great 
impulse and increase of these years into the fntnrc. There is 
no reason why in many lines of prodnction we should not surpass 
all other nations as we have already done in some. There are 
no near frontiers to our possible development. Retrogression 
would be a crime. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Mansion, 

December (5, iSg2. 



SPECIAL MESSAGES TO CONGRESS. 

THE GREAT SIOUX RESERVATION. 

Po llie Senate and /douse of Representatives : 

In pursuance of the power vested in me by the terms of the last 
clause of section 3 of the act of Congre.ss approved March 2, 1889, 
entitled ' 'x\n act making appropriations for the current and con- 
tingent expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling treaty 
stipulations with various Indian tribes, for the year ending June 30, 
1890, and for other purposes," a commission as therein authorized 
was appointed, consistingof Charles Foster of Ohio, William W^arner 
of Missouri, and General George Crook of the United States Army. 
This Commission was specially instructed to present to the Sioux 
Indians occupying the Great Siou.x Reservation, for their acceptance 
thereof and consent thereto in manner and form as therein provided, 
the act of Congress approved March 2, 1S89, entitled " An act to 
divide a portion of the reservation of the Sioux Nation of Indians in 
Dakota into separate reservations, and to secure the relinquishment 
of the Indian title to the remainder, and for other purposes." 

The report of the Commission was submitted to me on the 24th 
day of December, 1889, and is, with the accompanying documents 
and a letter of the Secretary of the Interior, herewith transmitted 
for the information of Congress. It appears from the rejjort of the 
Commission that the con.sent of more than three-fourths of the adult 
Indians to the terms of the act last named was secured, as required 
by section 12 of the treaty of 1868, and upon a careful examination 
of the papers submitted I find such to be the fact, and that such 
consent is properly evidenced by the signatures of more than three- 
fourths of such Indians. 



158 Public Papers and .Iddrcsscs of Benjamin Harrison. 

At the outset of the negotiations the Commission was confronted 
by certain questions as to the interpretation and effect of the act of 
Congress which they were presenting for the acceptance of the 
Indians. Upon two or three points of some importance the Com- 
mission gave, in response to these inquiries, an interpretation to the 
law, and it was the law thus explained to them that was accepted 
by the Indians. The Commissioners had no power to bind Congress 
or the E.xecutive by their construction of a statute, but they were 
the agents of the United States, first to submit a definite proposition 
for the acceptance of the Indians, and, that failing, to agree upon 
modified terms, to be submitted to Congress for ratification. They 
were dealing with an ignorant and suspicious people, and an 
explanation of the terms, and effect of the offer submitted could not 
be avoided. Good faith demands that if the United States expects 
the lands ceded, the beneficial construction of the act given by our 
agents should be also admitted and observed. 

The chief difficulty in the construction of the act grows out of its 
relation to prior treaties, which were by section 19 continued in 
force so far as they are not in conflict with the terms of the act. 
The seventh article of the treaty of 1868, relating to schools and 
school-houses, is by section 17 of the act continued in force for 
twenty years, "subject to such modifications as Congress shall 
deem most effective to secure to said Indians equivalent benefits of 
such education." 

vSection 7 of the treaty of 1868 provides only for instruction in 
the "elementary branches of an English education," while section 
17 of the act, after continuing this section of the treaty in force, 
provides a fund which is to be applied "for the promotion of 
industrial and other suitable education among said Indians." 
Again, section 7 of the treaty provides for the erection of a school- 
house for every thirty children who can be induced to attend, while 
section 20 of the act requires the erection of not less than thirty 
school-houses, and more if found necessary. 

The Commissioners were asked by the Indians whether the cost 
of tlie English schools provided for in section 7 of the treaty, and 
of the school houses provided for in the .same section, and in section 
20 of the act, would be a charge against the proceeds of the lands 
they were now asked to cede to the United States. This question 
was answered in the negative, and I think the answer was correct. 
If the act, without reference to section 7 of the treaty, is to be 
construed to express the whole duty of the Government towards 
the Indians in the matter of schools, the extension for twenty years 
of the provisions of that section is without meaning. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 159 

The assurance given by the Commissioners that the money 
appropriated by section 27 of tlie act to pay certain bands for the 
ponies taken by tlie military autliorities in 1876 would not be a 
charge against the proceeds of the ceded lands was obviously a 
correct interpretation of the law. 

The Indians were further assured b\- the Commissioners that the 
amount ajDpropriated for the expenses of the Commission could not 
under the law be made a charge upon the proceeds of their lands. 
This I think is a correct exposition of the act. 

It seems from the report of the Commission that some of the 
Indians at the Standing Rock Agency asked whether, if they 
accepted the act, they could have the election to take their allot- 
ments under section 6 of the treaty of 1868 and have the benefits of 
.sections 8 and 10 of that treaty, and were told that they could. 

As the treaty is continued in force, except where it contravenes 
the provisions of the act, I do not see any difficulty in admitting 
this interpretation. 

It will be found that the Commission has submitted many 
recommendations, some of them involving legislation and others 
appealing to powers already possessed by the Executive Department. 
The consent of the Indians to the act was not made dependent upon 
the adoption of any of these recommendations, but many of them 
are obviously just and ])romotive of the true interests of the Indians. 
So far as these require legislation they are earnestly commended to 
the attention of Congress. 

The Secretary of the Interior has prepared and submits with his 
letter transmitting the report of the Commission the draft of a bill 
embodying those recommendations of the Commission requiring 
legislation. 

The appropriations necessary to carry into effect the provisions of 
the act should be promptly made and be immediately available. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

February 10, iSqo. 



i6o Public Papers and Addresses of Bcnjainiii Harrison. 



THE LAKE TRAVERSE INDIAN RESERVATION. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

I transmit herewith a coiniminication of the 8th instant from the 
Secretary of the Interior, submitting a report of the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs and accompanying agreement made with the Sisseton 
and Wahpeton bands of Dakota or Sioux Indians for the purchase 
and release of the surplus lands in the Lake Traverse Indian 
Reservation in the States of North and South Dakota; the 
negotiations for said purchase and release having been conducted 
under the authority contained in the fifth section of the general 
allotment act of February 8, 1887 (24 Stats., 388), which provides 
among other things that the "purchase shall not be complete until 
ratified by Congress, and the form and manner of executing such 
release shall also be prescribed by Congress." 

This agreement involves a departure from the terms of the general 
allotment act in at least one important particular. It gives to each 
member of the tribe 160 acres of land without regard to age or sex, 
while the general law gives this allotment only to heads of families. 
There are, I think, serious objections to the basis adopted in the 
general law, especially in its application to married women ; but if 
the basis of the agreement herewith submitted is accepted, it would, 
I think, result in some cases where there are large families of minor 
children, in excessive allotments to a single family. Whatever is 
done in this case will of course become in some sense a precedent in 
the cases yet to be dealt with. 

Perhaps the question of the payment by the United States of the 
annuities which were forfeited by the act of February 16, 1863 (12 
Stats., 652), should not have been considered in connection with 
this negotiation for the cession of these lands. But it appears that 
a refusal to consider this claim would have terminated the negotia- 
tion, and if the claim is just its allowance has already been too 
long delayed. The forfeiture declared by the act of 1863 unjustly 
included the annuities of certain Indians of these bands who were 
not only guilty of no fault, but who rendered meritorious services 
in the armies of the United States in the suppression of the Sioux 
outbreak and in the war of the rebellion. 

The agreement submitted, as I understand, provides for the 
payment of the annuities justly due to these friendly Indians to all 
the members of the two bands per capita. This is said to be the 
unanimous wish of the Indians, and a distribution to the friendly 



Public Papers and Addresses of Ben jam in I/airison. i6i 

Indians and their descendants only wonld now be very difficvilt if 
not impossible. 

The agreement is respectfully submitted for the consideration of 
Congress. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Mansion, 

February /<?, i8go. 



CHIPPEWA INDIANS OF MINNESOTA. 

To the Senate and / louse of Reprcscnlaiii<es: 

In pursuance of the authority and direction contained in the act 
of Congress approved January 14, 1889, entitled "An act for the 
relief and civilization of the Chippewa Indians in the State of 
Minnesota," three Commissioners were appointed by the President 
on February 26, 1889, as therein authorized and directed, nameh , 
Henry M. Rice, of Minnesota, Martin Marty, of Dakota, and Joseph 
B. Whiting, of Wisconsin, to negotiate with said Indians. 

The Commissioners have submitted their final report, with accom- 
panying papers, showing the results of the negotiations conducted 
by them, and the same has been carefully reviewed bv the Secretary 
of the Interior in his report to me thereon. 

Being satisfied from an examination of the papers submitted that 
the cession and relinquishment by said Chippewa Indians of their 
title and interest in the lands specified and described in the agree- 
ment with the diflferent bands or tribes of Chippewa Indians in the 
State of Minnesota was obtained in the manner prcscriljed in the 
first section of said act, and that more than the requisite number 
have signed said agreement, I have, as provided bv said act, approved 
the said instruments in writing, constituting the agreement entered 
into by the Commissioners with said Indians. 

The Commissioners did not escape the embarrassment which 
unfortunately too often attends our negotiations with the Indians, 
namely, an indisposition to treat with the Government for further 
concessions while its obligations incurred under former agreements 
are unkept. I am sure it will be the disposition of Congress to 
consider promptly and in a just and friendly spirit the claims pre- 
.sented by these Indians through our Commissioners which have 
been formulated in the draught of a bill prepared by the Secretary 
of the Interior and submitted herewith. 

The act of January 14, 18S9 (25 U. S. Stat., 642), evidently 
contemplated the voluntary removal of the body of all these bauds of 
15151- — 11 



i62 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

Indians to the White Earth and Red Lake reservations, bnt a proviso 
in section 3 of the act authorized any Indian to take his allotment 
upon the reservation where he now resides. The Commissioners 
report that quite a general desire was expressed by the Indians to 
avail themselves of this option. The result of this is that the ceded 
land can not be ascertained and brought to sale under the act until 
all of the allotments are made. 

I recommend that the necessary appropriations to complete the 
surveys and allotments be made at once available, so that the work 
may be begun and completed at the earliest possible day. 

A copy of the report made by the Commissioners, with copies of 
all the papers submitted therewith, except the census rolls, is 
herewith presented for the information of the Congress. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

March 4, 18 go. 



AN INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY LINE. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

I transmit herewith a report of the International American Con- 
ference, recently in session at this capital, recommending a survey 
of a route for an intercontinental line of railroad to connect the 
systems of North America with those of the Southern Continent, 
and to be conducted under the direction of a board of conimi.ssioners 
representing the several American Republics. 

Public attention has chiefly been attracted to the subject of 
improved water communication between the ports of the United 
States and those of Central and South America. The creation of new 
and improved steamship lines undoubtedh- furnishes the readiest 
means of developing an increased trade with the Latin-American 
nations. But it should not be forgotten that it is possible to travel 
by land from Washington to the southernmost capital of South 
America, and that the opening of railroad communication with 
these friendly states will give to them and to us facilities for 
intercourse and the exchanges of trade that are of special value. 
The work contemplated is vast, but entireh- practicable. It will 
be interesting to all and perhaps surprising to most of us to notice 
how much has already been done in the way of railroad construction 
in Mexico and South America that can be utilized as part of an 
intercontinental line. I do not hesitate to recommend that Congress 



riiblic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 163 

make the \-erv moderate appropriation for surveys sugo;ested by the 
conference, and authorize the appointment of commissioners and 
the detail of engineer officers to direct and conduct the necessary 
preliminary surveys. 

Benj. Harrison. 

ExKCUTivE Mansion, 

May ig, iSgo. 



AN INTERNATIONAL AMERICAN BANK. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

I transmit herewith a letter from the vSecretary of State, inclosing 
a report adopted by the International American Conference, recently 
in session at this capital, recommending the establishment of an 
international American bank, with its principal offices in the city 
of New York and branches in the commercial centers of the several 
other American Republics. 

The advantages of such an institution to the merchants of the 
ITnited States engaged in trade with Central and vSouth America 
and the purposes intended to be accomplished are fully set forth in 
the letter of the Secretary of State and the accompanying report. 
It is not proposed to involve the United States in any financial 
responsibility, but only to give to the proposed bank a corporate 
franchise and to promote public confidence by requiring that its 
condition and transactions shall be submitted to a scrutiny similar 
to that which is now exercised over our domestic banking system. 

The subject is submitted for the consideration of Congress in the 
belief that it will be found possible to promote the end desired by 
legislation so guarded as to avoid all just criticism. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

May 27, iSgo. 



THE INTERNATIONAL AMERICAN CONFERENCE. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

The International American Conference, recently in session at 
this capital, recommended for adoption b\- the several American 
Republics : 

(i) A uniform system of customs regulations for the clas.sification 
and valuation of imported merchandise ; 



164 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

(2) A uniform nomenclature for the descriptiou of articles of 
merchandise imported and exported ; and 

(3) The establishment at Washington of an international bureau 
of information. 

The conference also, at its final session, decided to establish in 
the city of Washington, as a fitting memorial of its meeting, a 
Latin-American library, to be formed by contributions from the 
several nations of historical, geographical, and literary works, maps, 
manuscripts, and official documents relating to the history and 
civilization of America, and expressed a desire that the Government 
of the United vStates should provide a suitable building for the 
shelter of such a library, to be solemnly dedicated upon the four- 
hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America. 

The importance of these suggestions is fully set forth in the letter 
of the Secretary of State, and the accompanying documents herewith 
transmitted, to which I invite your attention. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

June 2^ 18^0. 



RECIPROCAL COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

I transmit herewith, for your information, a letter from the 
Secretary of State, inclosing a report of the International Amer- 
ican Conference, which recommends that reciprocal commercial 
treaties be entered into between the United States and the several 
other Republics of this hemisphere. 

It has been so often and so persistently stated that our tariff" laws 
ofi"ered an insurmountable barrier to a large exchange of products 
with the Latin-American nations, that I deem it proper to call especial 
attention to the fact that more than 87 per cent of the products of 
those nations sent to our ports are now admitted free. If sugar 
is placed upon the free list, practically every important article 
exported from those States will be given untaxed access to our 
markets, except wool. The real difficulty in the way of negotiating 
profitable reciprocity treaties is, that we have given freely so much 
that would have had value in the mutual concessions which such 
treaties imply. I can not doubt, however, that the present advan- 
tages which the products of these near and friendly States enjoy in 
our markets — though they are not by law exclusive — will, with 
other considerations, favorably dispose them to adopt such measures, 



I^iblic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 165 

by treaty or otherwise, as will tend to equalize and greatly enlarge 
our mutual exchanges. 

It will certainl)- be time enough for us to consider whether we 
must cheapen the cost of production by cheapening labor, in order 
to gain access to the South American markets, when we have fairly 
tried the effect of established and reliable steam communication, and 
of convenient methods of money exchanges. There can be no 
doubt, I think, that with these facilities well established, and 
with a rebate of duties upon imported raw materials used in the 
manufacture of goods for export, our merchants will be able to 
compete in the ports of the Latin-American nations with those of 
any other countr>-. 

If after the Congress shall have acted upon pending tariff legis- 
lation it shall appear that, under the general treaty-making power, 
or under any special powers given by law, our trade with the States 
represented in the Conference can be enlarged upon a basis of mutual 
advantage, it will be promptly done. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive M.\nsion, 

June /^, i8go. 



THE LOUISIANA STATE LOTTERY. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

The recent attempt to secure a charter from the State of North 
Dakota for a lottery company, the pending effort to obtain from the 
State of Louisiana a renewal of the charter of the Louisiana State 
Lottery, and the establishment of one or more lottery companies at 
Mexican towns near our border, have served the good purpose 
of calling public attention to an evil of vast proportions. If the 
baneful effects of the lotteries were confined to the States that give 
the companies corporate powers and a license to conduct the 
business, the citizens of other States, being powerless to apply legal 
remedies, might clear themselves of responsibility by the use of 
such moral agencies as were within their reach. But the case is 
not so. The people of all the States are debauched and defrauded. 
The vast sums of money offered to the States for charters are drawn 
from the people of the United States, and the General Government, 
through its mail system, is made the effective and profitable 
medium of intercourse between the lottery company and its victims. 
The use of the mails is quite as essential to the companies as 



i66 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

the State license. It would be practically impossible for these 
companies to exist if the public mails were once effectively closed 
against their advertisements and remittances. The use of the mails 
by these companies is a prostitution of an agency only intended 
to serve the purposes of a legitimate trade and a decent social 
intercourse. 

It is not necessary, I am sure, for me to attempt to portray the 
robbery of the poor and the wide-spread corruption of public and 
private morals which are the necessary incidents of these lottery 
schemes. 

The national capital has become a sub-headquarters of the 
Louisiana Lottery Company, and its numerous agents and attorneys 
are conducting here a business involving probably a larger use of 
the mails than that of any legitimate business enterprise in the 
District of Columbia. There seems to be good reason to believe 
that the corrupting touch of these agents has been felt by the 
clerks in the postal service and by some of the police officers of the 
District. 

Severe and effective legislation should be promptly enacted to 
enable the Post-Office Department to purge the mails of all letters, 
newspapers, and circulars relating to the business. 

The letter of the Postmaster-General, which I transmit herewith, 
points out the inadequacy of the existing statutes, and suggests 
legislation that would be effective. 

It may also be necessary to so regulate the carrying of letters by 
the express companies as to prevent the use of those agencies to 
maintain communication between the lottery companies and their 
agents or customers in other States. 

It does not seem possible that there can be any division of 
sentiment as to the propriety of closing the mails against these 
companies, and I therefore venture to express the hope that such 
proper powers as are necessary to that end will be at once given to 
the Post-Office Department. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

July 2g, i8go. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 167 



POSTAL AND CABLE COMMUNICATION WITH SOUTH 

AMERICA. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

I transmit herewith a letter from the vSecretary of vState, inclosing 
the recommendations of the International American Conference for 
the establishment of improved facilities for postal and cable com- 
mnnication between the United States and the several conntries of 
Central and Sonth America. 

I can not too strongly nrge npon Congress the necessity of giving 
this snbject immediate and favorable consideration, and of making 
adequate appropriations to carry the recommendations into effect; 
and in this connection I beg leave to call attention to what was 
said on the subject in my annual message. The delegates of the 
seventeen neighboring republics which have so recently been 
assembled in Washington, at the invitation of this Government, 
have expressed their wish and purpose to cooperate with the United 
States in the adoption of measures to improve the means of com- 
munication between the several republics of America. They 
recognize the necessity of frequent, regular, and rapid steamship 
service, both for the purpose of maintaining friendly intercourse 
and for the convenience of commerce, and realize that without such 
facilities it is useless to attempt to extend the trade between their 

ports and ours. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

July 2, iSgo. 



AGREEMENT WITH THE SAC AND FOX INDIANS. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

In compliauce with the provisions of section 14 of the act of March 
2, 1889, I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, an 
agreement concluded between the Commissioners appointed under 
that section on behalf of the United States commonly known as the 
Cherokee Commission, and the Sac and Fox Nation of Indians in 
the Indian Territory, on the 12th day of June last. 

The Sac and Fox Nation have a national council, and the nego- 
tiation was conducted with that body, which undoubtedly had 
competent authority to contract on behalf of the tribe for the sale 
of these lands. The letter of the Secretary of the Interior and the 



i68 Public Papers a)id Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

accompanying papers, which are snbmitted herewith furnish all the 
information necessary to the consideration of the questions to be 
determined by Congress. 

The only serious question presented is as to that article of the 
agreement which limits the distribution of the funds to be paid by 
the United States, under it, to the Sac and Fox Indians now in the 
Indian Territory. I very graveh- doubt whether the remnant or 
band of this tribe now living in Iowa has any interest in these lands 
in the Indian Territory. The reservation there was apparently 
given in consideration of improvements upon the lands or the tribe 
in Kansas. The band now resident in Iowa, upon lands purchased 
by their own means, as I am advised, left the Kansas reservation 
many years before the date of this treaty and, it would seem, could 
have had no equitable interest in the improvements on the Kansas 
lands, which must have been the result of the labors of that jjortion 
of the tribe living upon them. The right of the Iowa band to a 
participation in the proceeds of the sale of the Kansas reservation 
was explicitly reserved in the treaty, but it seems to me, upon a 
somewhat hasty examination of the treaty, that the reservation in 
the Indian Territory was intended only for the benefit of those 
who should go there to reside. The Secretary of the Interior has 
expressed a somewhat different view of the effect of this treaty, but if 
the facts are, as I understand, that the Iowa band did not contribute 
to the improvements which were the consideration for the reserva- 
tion, and did not accept the invitation to settle upon the reservation 
lands in the Indian Territory, I do not well see how they have either 
an equitable or legal claim to participate in the proceeds of the sale 
of those lands. 

The whole matter is submitted for the consideration of Congress. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

July 2, 1 8 go. 



LANDS IN ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

In my annual message I called attention to the urgent need of 
legislation for the adjustment of the claims under Mexican grants 
to lands in Arizona and New Mexico. 

I now submit a correspondence which has passed between the 
Department of State and the Mexican Government concerning the 
rights of certain Mexican citizens to have their claims to lands 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 169 

ceded to the United States by the treaty adjusted and confirmed. I 
also submit a letter from the Secretary- of the Interior, with accom- 
panying- papers, showing the number and extent of these claims 
and their present condition. 

The United States owes a duty to Mexico to confirm to her 
citizens those valid grants that were saved by the treaty, and the 
long delay which has attended the discharge of this duty has given 
just cause of complaint. 

The entire community where these large claims exist, and indeed 
all of our people, are interested in an early and final settlement of 
them. No greater incubus can rest upon the energies of a people 
in the development of a new country than that resulting from 
unsettled land titles. 

The necessity for legislation is so evident and so urgent that I 
venture to express the hope that relief will be given at the present 
session of Congress. 

BENJ. H.A.RRISON. 

Executive M.a.x.sion, 

July /, iSgo. 



DISTRESS IN OKLAHOMA. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

I have received, under date of July 29 ultimo, a communication 
from the Hon. George W. Steele, governor of the Territory of 
Oklahoma, in which, among other things, he .says : 

A delegation from township i6, range i, in this county, has just left me, who came 
to represent that there are at this time twenty-eight families in that township who are 
in actual need of the necessaries of life, and thej' give it as their opinion that their 
township is not an exception, and that in the very near future a large proportion of the 
settlers of this Territory will have to have assistance. This I have looked for, but have 
hoped to bridge over until after the legislature meets, when I thought some arrange- 
ment might be made for taking care of these needy people; but with little ta.xable 
property in the Territory, and very many necessary demands to be made and met, I 
doubt if the legislature will be able to make such provision until a crop is raised ne.\t 
year as will be adequate to the demands. * * * 

Now, I know whereof I speak, and I say there are a great many people in this 
Territory who have not the necessary means of providing meals for a day to come and 
are being helped by their very poor neighbors. No one regrets more than I do the 
necessity of making the foregoing statement, and 1 have hoped to bridge the matter 
over, as I have said before, until the legislature would meet, and sec if some provision 
could be made. I now see the utter hopelessness of such a course, and I beg of you 
to call the attention of Congress to the condition of our people, with the earnest hope 
that provision m.ay be made whereby great suffering may be relieved; and I assure 
you that so far as I am able to prevent it, not one ounce of provisions, or a cent of 
money contributed to the above need shall be improperly used. 



170 Public Papers and Addresses of Bcujamin Harrison. 

Information received by nie from other sources leads me to 
believe that Governor Steele is altogether right in his impression 
that there will be, nnless relief is afforded either by public appro- 
priation or by organized individual effort, wide-spread suffering 
among the settlers in Oklahoma. Man}' of these people expended 
in travel and in providing shelter for their families all of their 
accumulated means. The crop prospects for this year are, by 
reason of drought, quite unfavorable, and the abilit>- of the Territory 
itself to provide relief must be inadequate during this year. 

I am advised that there is an unexpended balance of about $45,000 
of the fund appropriated for the relief of the sufferers by flood upon 
the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and I recommend that 
authority be given to use this fund to meet the most urgent 
necessities of the poorer people in Oklahoma. Steps have been 
taken to ascertain more particularly the condition of the people 
tliroughout the Territory, and if a larger relief should seen: to be 
necessary the facts will be submitted to Congress. If the fund 
to which I have referred should be made available for relief in 
Oklahoma, care will be taken that so much of it as is necessary to 
be expended shall be judiciously applied to the most worthy and 
necessitous cases. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

August <?, i8go. 



INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

I transmit herewith a letter from the Secretary of State, which 
is accompanied by three reports adopted by the Conference of 
American Nations recently in session at Washington relating to 
the subject of international arbitration. The ratification of the 
treaties contemplated by these reports will constitute one of the 
happiest and most hopeful incidents in the history of the Western 
Hemisphere. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

September J., 18 go. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 171 



VACANCIES IN OFFICE OF SECRETARY. 

To /he Senate and House of Representatives : 

The sudden deatli of the honorable William Windom, Secretary 
of the Treasur}-, in New York, on the evening of the 29th instant, 
has directed my attention to the present state of tlie law as to 
the filling of a vacancy occasioned by the death of the head of a 
Department. 

I transmit herewith an opinion of the Attorney-General from 
which it will be seen that under the statutes in force no ofl5cer in 
the Treasury Department, or other person designated by me, can 
exercise the duties of Secretary of the Treasury for a longer period 
than ten days. This limitation is, I am sure, unwise, and neces- 
sarily involves, in such a case as that now presented, undue haste 
and even indelicacy. The President should not be required to take 
up the question of the selection of a successor before the last offices 
of affection and respect have been paid to the dead. If the propri- 
eties of an occasion as sad as that which now overshadows us are 
observed, possibly one-half of the brief time allowed is gone before, 
with due regard to the decencies of life, the President and those 
with whom he should advise can take up the consideration of the 
grave duty of selecting a head for one of the greatest Departments 
of the Government. 

Hasty action by the Senate is also necessarily involved, and 
geographical limitations are practically imposed by the necessity 
of selecting some one who can reach the capital and take the 
necessary oath of office before the exjiiration of the ten days. 

It may be a very proper restriction of the power of the President 
in this connection that he shall not designate, for any great length 
of time, a person to discharge the.se inaportant duties who has not 
been confirmed by the Senate ; but there would seem to be no 
reason wh)' one of the assistant secretaries of the Department 
wherein the vacancy exists might not discharge the duties of 
Secretary until a successor is selected, confirmed, and qualified. 
The inconvenience of this limitation was made apparent at the 
time of the death of Secretary Folger. President Arthur, in that 
case, allowed one of the assistant secretaries, who had been desig- 
nated to act in the absence of the Secretary, to continue in the 
discharge of such duties for ten days, then designated the same 
penson to discharge the duties for a further term of ten days, and 
then made a temporar\- appointment as Secretary in order to secure 
the consideration that he needed in filling this important place. 



172 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

I recommend such a modification of the existing law as will 
permit the first or sole assistant, or in the case of the Treasury^ 
Department, where the assistants are not graded, that one who may 
be designated by the President, to discharge the duties of the head 
of the Department until a successor is appointed and qualified. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Mansion, 

January ji, i8gi. 



DEATH OF ADMIRAL PORTER. 

To the Senate and Hoicse 0/ Representatives : 

The Admiral of the Navy, David Dixon Porter, died at his 
residence in the city of Washington this morning at 8:15 o'clock, 
in the seventy-eighth year of his age. He entered the naval service 
as a midshipman February 2, 1829, ^^^ ^^^ been since continuously 
in serv'ice, having been made Admiral August 15, 1870. He was 
the son of Commodore David Porter, one of the greatest of our 
naval commanders. His service during the civil war was con- 
spicuously brilliant and successful, and his death ends a very high 
and honorable career. His countrymen will sincerely mourn his 
loss, while they cherish with grateful pride the memory of his deeds. 
To officers of the Navy his life will continue to yield inspiration 
and encouragement. 

Benj. Harrison, 

Executive Mansion, 

February ij, iSgj. ^ 



DEATH OF GENERAL SHERMAN. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

The death of William Tecumseh Sherman, which took place 
to-day at his residence in the city of New York at i o'clock and 50 
minutes p. m., is an event that will bring sorrow to the heart of 
every patriotic citizen. No living American was so loved and 
venerated as he. To look upon his face, to hear his name, was to 
have one's love of country intensified. He ser\'ed his country, not 
for fame, not out of a sense of professional duty, but for love of the 
flag and of the beneficient civil institutions of which it was the 
emblem. He was an ideal soldier, and shared to the fullest the 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bciija>nin Ilarnson. 173 

esprit de corps of the Army ; but he cherished the civil institutions 
ore:anized under the Constitution, and was a soldier only that 
these might be perpetuated in undiminished usefulness and honor. 
He was in nothing an imitator. 

A profound student of military science and precedent, he drew 
from them principles and suggestions, and so adapted them to novel 
conditions that his campaigns will continue to be the profitable 
study of the military profession throughout the world. His genial 
nature made him comrade to every soldier of the ^reat Union Army. 
No presence was so welcome and inspiring at the camp-fire or 
commandery as his. His career was complete ; his honors were full. 
He had received from the Government the highest rank known to 
our military establishment, and from the people unstinted gratitude 
and love. No word of mine can add to his fame. His death has 
followed in startling quickness that of the Admiral of the Navy ; 
and it is a sad and notable incident that when the Department under 
which he served shall have put on the usual emblems of mourning, 
four of the eight Executive Departments will be simultaneously 
draped in black, and one other has but to-day removed the crape 
from its walls. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

February^ 14, i8()i. 



THE FAMINE IN RUSSIA. 

To tlic Senate and House of Representatives: 

The famine prevailing in some of the provinces of Russia is so 
severe and widespread as to have attracted the sympathetic interest 
of a large number of our liberal and favored people. In some of 
the great grain-producing States of the West movements have 
already been organized to collect flour and meal for the relief of these 
perishing Russian families, and the response has been such as to 
justify the belief that a ship's cargo can very soon be delivered at 
the seaboard through the generous cooperation of the transportation 
lines. It is most appropriate that a people whose storehouses have 
been so lavishly filled with all the fruits of the earth b\- the gracious 
fa\-or of God .should manifest their gratitude by large gifts to his 
suffering children in other lands. The Secretary of the Navy has 
no steam vessel at his disposal that could be used for the transpor- 
tation of these supplies, and I therefore recommend that he be 



174 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

authorized to charter a suitable vessel to receive them, if asufficicut 
amount should be offered, and to send them under the charge of a 
naval officer to such Russian port as may be most convenient for 
ready distribution to those most in need. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Mansion, 

January 5, i8g2. 



THE MOB AT VALPARAISO, CHILE. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

In my annual message, delivered to Congress at the beginning 
of the present session, after a brief statement of the facts then in 
the possession of this Government touching the a.ssault, in the streets 
of Valparaiso, Chile, upon the sailors of the U. S. S. Baltimore, on 
the evening of the i6th of October last, I said : 

This Government is now awaiting the result of an investigation which lias heen 
conducted by the criminal court at Valparaiso. It is reported unofficially that the 
investigation is about completed, and it is expected that the result will soon be 
communicated to this Government, together with some adequate and satisfactory 
response to the note by which the attention of Chile was called to this incident. If 
these just expectations should be disappointed or further needless delay intervene, I 
will, by a special message, bring this matter again to the attention of Congress for 
such action as may be necessary. 

In my opinion the time has now come when I should lay before 
the Congress and the country the correspondence between this 
Government and the Government of Chile, from the time of the 
breaking out of the revolution against Balmaceda, together with all 
other facts in possession of the Executive Department relating to 
this matter. The diplomatic correspondence is herewith trans- 
mitted, together with some correspondence between the naval 
officers for the time in command in Chilean waters and the Secretary 
of the Navy and also the evidence taken at the Mare Island navy- 
yard since the arrival of the Baltimore at San Francisco. I do not 
deem it necessary in this comnuinication to attempt any full analysis 
of the correspondence or of the evidence. A brief restatement of 
the international questions involved and of the reasons why the 
responses of the Chilean Government are unsatisfactory is all that 
I deem necessary. 

It may be well, at the outset, to say that whatever may have 
been said in this countrv' or in Chile in criticism of Mr. Egan, our 
minister at Santiago, the true history of this exciting period in 
Chilean affairs, from the outbreak of the revolution until this time, 



Pjihlic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 175 

discloses no act on the part of Mr Egan unwortliy of his position 
or that could justly be the occasion of serious animadversion or 
criticism. He has, I think, on the whole, borne himself, in very 
trying circumstances, with dignity, discretion, and courage, and 
has conducted the correspondence with ability, courtesy, and fairness- 
It is worth while also at the beginning to say that the right of 
Mr. Egan to give shelter in the legation to certain adherents of the 
Balmaceda Government, who applied to him for asylum, has not 
been denied by the Chilean authorities, nor has any demand been 
made for the surrender of these refugees. That there was urgent 
need of asylum is shown by Mr. Egan's note of August 24, 1891, 
describing the disorders that prevailed in Santiago, and by the 
evidence of Capt. Schley as to the pillage and violence that pre- 
vailed at Valparaiso. The correspondence discloses, however, that 
the request of Mr. Egan for a safe conduct from the country, in 
behalf of these refugees, was denied. The precedents cited by him 
in the correspondence, particularly the case of the revolution in 
Peru in 1S65, did not leave the Chilean Government in a position 
to deny the right of asylum to political refugees, and seemed very 
clearly to support Mr. Egan's contention that a .safe conduct to 
neutral territory was a necessary and acknowledged incident of the 
asylum. These refugees have very recently, without formal safe 
conduct, but by the acquiesence of the Chilean authorities, been 
placed on board the Yorktozvn and are now being conveyed to 
Callao, Peru. This incident might be considered wholly closed, 
but for the disrespect manifested toward this Government by the 
close and offensive police surveillance of the legation premises, 
which was maintained during most of the period of the stay of the 
refugees therein. After the date of my annual message, and up to 
the time of the transfer of the refugees to the Yorklozv)i^ the legation 
premises seen: to have been surrounded by police in uniform, and 
police agents or detectives in citizens' dress, who offensively scru- 
tinized persons entering or leaving the legation, and on one or more 
occasions arrested members of the minister's family. Commander 
Evans, who, by my direction, recently visited Mr. Egan at Santiago, 
in his telegram to the Navy Department, described the legation as 
"a veritable prison," and states that the police agents or detectives 
were, after his arrival, withdrawn during his stay. It appears 
further, from the note of Mr. Egan of November 20, 1891, that on 
one occasion at least these police agents, whom he declares to be 
known to him, invaded the legation ]5remises, pounding upon its 
windows and using insulting and threatening language towards 
persons therein. This breach of the right of a minister to freedom 



176 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

from police espionage and restraint seems to have been so flagrant 
that tlie Argentine minister, who was dean of the diplomatic corps, 
having observed it, felt called upon to protest against it to the 
Chilean minister of foreign affairs. The Chilean authorities have, 
as will be observed from the correspondence, charged the refugees 
and the inmates of the legation with insulting the police; but it 
seems to me incredible that men whose lives were in jeopardy, and 
whose safety could only be secured by retirement and quietness, 
should have sought to provoke a collision which could only end in 
their destruction, or to aggravate their condition by intensifying a 
popular feeling that at one time so threatened the legation as to 
require Mr. Egan to appeal to the minister of foreign affairs. 

But the most serious incident disclosed by the correspondence is 
that of the attack upon the sailors of the Baltimore in the streets of 
Valparaiso on the i6tli of October last. In my annual message, 
speaking upon the information then in my possession, I said: 

So far as I have yet been able to learn, no other explanation of this bloody work has 
been suggested than that it had its origin in hostility to these men as sailors of the 
United States, wearing the uniform of their Government, and not in any individual 
act or personal animosity. 

We have now received from the Chilean Government an abstract 
of the conclusions of the fiscal general upon the testimony taken by 
the judge of crimes in an investigation which was made to extend 
over nearly three months. I very much regret to be compelled to 
say that this report does not enable me to modify the conclusion 
announced in my annual message. I am still of the opinion 
that our sailors were assaulted, beaten, stabbed, and killed, not for 
anything they or any one of them had done, but for what the 
Government of the United States had done, or was charged with 
having done, by its civil officers and naval commanders. If that 
be the true aspect of the case, the injury was to the Government of 
the United States, not to these poor sailors who were assaulted in a 
manner so brutal and so cowardly. 

Before attempting to give an outline of the facts upon which this 
conclusion rests, I think it right to say a word or two upon the legal 
aspect of the case. The Baltimore was in the harbor of Valparaiso 
by virtue of that general invitation which nations are held to extend 
to the war vessels of other powers with which they have friendly 
relations. This invitation, I think, must be held ordinarily to 
embrace the privilege of such communication with the shore as is 
reasonable, necessary, and proper for the comfort and convenience 
of the officers and men of such vessels. Capt. Schley testifies that 
when his vessel returned to Valparaiso, on September 14, the city 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bciijaniiii Harrison. 177 

officers, as is customary, extended the hospitalities of tlie cit\- to his 
officers and crew. It is not claimed that every personal collision 
or injnry in which a sailor or officer of snch naval vessel visiting 
the shore may be involved raises an internatioiral question; but I 
am clearly of the opinion that where such sailors or officers are 
assaulted by a resident populace, animated by hostility to the 
Government whose uniform these sailors and officers wear, and in 
resentment of acts done by their Government, not by them, their 
nation must take notice of the event as one involving an infraction 
of its rights and dignity; not in a secondary way, as where a citizen 
is injured and presents his claim through his own Government, but 
in a primary way, precisely as if its minister or consul, or the flag 
itself, had been the object of the same character of assault. The 
officers and sailors of the Baltimore were in the harbor of Valparaiso 
under the orders of their Government, not by their own choice. 
They were upon the shore by the implied invitation of the Govern- 
ment of Chile and with the approval of their commanding officer; 
and it does not distinguish their case from that of a consul that his 
stay is more permanent, or that he holds the express invitation of 
the local government to justify his longer residence. Nor does it 
affect the question that the injury was the act of a mob. If there 
had been no participation by the police or military in this cruel 
work, and no neglect on their part to extend protection, the case 
would still be one, in my opinion, when its extent and character 
are considered, involving international rights. 
The incidents of the affair are, briefly, as follows: 
On the i6th of October last Capt. Schley, commanding the U. S. 
S. Baltimore^ gave shore leave to one hundred and seventeen petty 
officers and sailors of his ship. These men left the ship about i -.^p 
p. m. No incident of violence occurred; none of our men were 
arrested; no complaint was lodged against them ; nor did any 
collision or outbreak occur until about 6 o'clock p. m. Capt. 
Schley states that he was himself on shore and about the streets of 
the city until 5:30 p. m. ; that he met very many of his men who 
were upon leave; that they were sober and were conducting them- 
selves with propriety, saluting Chilean and other officers as they 
met them. Other officers of the ship and Capt. Jenkins, of the 
merchant ship Kezeeenazv, corroborate Capt. Schley as to the 
general sobriety and good behavior of our men. The Sisters of 
Charity at the hospital to which our wounded men were taken, 
when inquired of, stated that they were sober when received. If 
the situation had been otherwise, we must believe that the Chilean 
police authorities would have made arrests. About 6 p. ni. the 
lul.jl lii 



1 78 Public Papers and Addresses of Bciija»ii)i //arn'son. 

assault began, and it is remarkable that the investigation by the 
judge of crimes, though so protracted, does not enable him to give 
any more satisfactory account of its origin than is found in the 
statement that it began between drunken sailors. Repeatedly in 
the correspondence it is asserted that it was impossible to learn the 
precise cause of the riot. The minister of foreign affairs, Matta, in 
his telegram to Mr. Montt, under date December 31, states that the 
quarrel began between two sailors in a tavern and was continued in 
the street, persons who were passing joining in it. 

The testimony of Talbot, an apprentice who was with Riggin, is 
that the outbreak in which they were involved began by a Chilean 
sailor spitting in the face of Talbot, which was resented by a knock- 
down. It appears that Riggin and Talbot were at the time 
unaccompanied by any others of their shipmates. * These two men 
were immediately beset by a crowd of Chilean citizens and sailors, 
through which they broke their way to a street car and entered it 
for safety. They were pursued, driven from the car, and Riggin 
was so seriously beaten that he fell in the street apparently dead. 
There is nothing in the report of the Chilean investigation made to 
us that seriously impeaches this testimony. It appears from Chilean 
sources that almost instantly, with a suddenness that strongly 
implies meditation and preparation, a mob, stated by the police 
authorities at one time to number 2,000 and at another 1,000, was 
engaged in the assault upon our sailors, who are represented as 
resisting "with stones, clubs, and bright arms." The report of the 
intendente of October 30 states that the fight began at 6 p. m. in 
three streets which are named, that information was received at the 
intendencia at 6:15, and that the police arrived on the scene at 6:30, 
a full half hour after the assault began. At that time he says that 
a mob of 2,000 men had collected, and that for several squares there 
was the appearance of a "real battlefield." 

The scene at this point is very graphically set before us by the 
Chilean testimony. The American sailors, who, after so long an 
examination, have not been found guilty of any breach of the peace, 
so far as the Chilean authorities are able to discover, unarmed and 
defenseless, are fleeing for their li\es, pursued by overwhelming 
numbers, and fighting only to aid their own escape from death or to 
succor some mate whose life is in greater peril. Eighteen of them 
are brutally stabbed and beaten, while one Chilean seems, from the 
report, to have suffered some injury; but how serious or with what 
character of weapon, or whether by a missile thrown by our men or 
by some of his fellow rioters, is unascertained. 

The pretense that our men were fighting "with stones, clubs. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaniiii Harrison. 179 

and bright arms" is, in\-iewof these facts, incredible. It is further 
refuted by the fact that our prisoners, when searched, were absolutely 
without arms, only seven penknives being found in the possession 
of the men arrested, while there were received b)' our men more 
than thirty stab wotuids, every one of which was inflicted in the 
back, and almost ever\- contused wound was in the back or back of 
the head. The evidence of the ship's officer of the day is that even 
the jackknives of the men were taken from them before leaving the 
ship. 

As to the brutal nature of the treatment received by our men, the 
following extract from the account given of the affair by the La 
Patria newspaper of Valparaiso, of October 17, can not be regarded 
as too friendly: 

The Yankees, as soon as their pursuers gave chase, went hy way of the Calle del 
Arsenal towards the city car station. In the presence of an ordinary number of 
citizens, among whom were some sailors, the North Americans took seats in the street 
car to escape from the stones which the Chileans threw at them. It was believed for 
an instant that the North Americans h.ad saved themselves from popular fury, but such 
was not the case. Scarcely had the car begun to move, when a crowd gathered around 
and stopped its progress. Under these circumstances and without any cessation of 
the howling and throwing of stones at the North Americans, the conductor entered the 
car and, seeing the risk of the situation to the vehicle, ordered them to get out. .At 
the instant the sailors left the car, in the midst of a hail of stones, the said conductor 
received a stone blow on the head. One of the Yankee sailors managed to escape in 
the direction of the Plaza Wheelright, but the other was felled to the ground by a stone. 
Managing to raise himself from the ground where he lay he staggered in an opposite 
direction from the station. In front of the house of Sefior Mazzini he was again 
wounded, falling then senseless and breathless. 

No amount of evasion or subterfuge is able to cloud our clear 
vision of this brutal work. It should be noticed, in this connection, 
that the American sailors arrested, after an examination, were, 
during the four days following the arrest, every one discharged, no 
charge of any breach of the peace or other criminal conduct having 
been sustained against a single one of them. The judge of crimes, 
Foster, in a note to the intendente, tinder date of October 22 — 
before the dispatch from this Government of the following daj', 
which aroused the authorities of Chile to a better sense of the 
gravitv of the affair — sa^'s : "Having presided temporarily over 
this court in regard to the seamen of the U. S. cruiser Baltimore^ 
zvho hare been tried on account of the deplorable conduct which 
took place," etc. The noticeable point here is that our sailors had 
been tried before the 22d of October and that the trial resulted in 
their accpiittal and return to their \essel. It is quite remarkable 
and quite charactc istic of the management of this affair by the 
Chilean police authorities that we shotild now be advised that 



i8o Public Papers and Addresses of Bei/jaiiiin Harrison. 

Seaman Davidson, of the Bal/iniorc, has been included in the indict- 
ment, his offense being, so far as I have been able to ascertain, that 
he attempted to defend a shipmate against an assailant wlio was 
striking at him with a knife. The perfect vindication of our men 
is furnished b)- this report; only one is found to have been guilty of 
criminal fault, and that for an act clearly justifiable. 

As to the part taken by the police in the affair the case made by 
Chile is also far from satisfactory. The point where Riggin was 
killed is only three minutes' walk from the police station and not 
more than twice that distance from the intendencia; and yet, accord- 
ing to their official report, a full half hour elapsed after the assault 
began before the police were upon the ground. It has been stated 
that all but two of our men have said that the police did their duty. 
The evidence taken at Mare Island shows that if such a statement 
was procured from our men it was accomplished by requiring them 
to sign a writing in a language they did not understand and by the 
representation that it was a mere declaration that they had taken 
no part in the disturbance. Lieut. McCrea, who acted as interpreter, 
says in his evidence that when our sailors were examined before the 
court the subject of the conduct of the police was so carefully avoided 
that he reported the fact to Capt. Schley on his return to the vessel. 

The evidences of the existence of animosity towards our sailors 
in the minds of the sailors of the Chilean navy and of the populace 
of Valparaiso are so abundant and various as to leave no doubt in 
the mind of anyone who will examine the papers submitted. It 
manifested itself in threatening and insulting gestures towards our 
men as they passed the Chilean men-of-war in their boats and in 
the derisive and abusive epithets with which they greeted every 
appearance of an American sailor on the evening of the riot. Capt. 
Schley reports that boats from the Chilean war ships several times 
went out of their course to cross the bows of his boats, compelling 
them to back water. He complained of the discourtesy and it was 
corrected. That this feeling was shared by men of higher rank is 
shown by an incident related by Surg. Stitt of the Baltiniore. 
After the battle of Placilla he, with other medical officers of the war 
vessels in the harbor, was giving voluntary assistance to the wounded 
in the hospitals. The son of a Chilean army officer of high rank 
was under his care, and, when the father discovered it, he flew into 
a passion and said he would rather have his son die than have 
Americans touch him, and at once had him removed from the ward. 
This feeling is not well concealed in the dispatches of the foreign 
office and had quite open expression in the disrespectful treatment 
of the American legation. The Chilean boatmen in the bav refused. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. i8i 

even for large offers of money, to return our sailors, wlio crowded 
the Mole, to their sliip when they were endeavorino; to escape from 
the citv on the night of the assault. The market boats of the 
Baltimore were threatened, and even quite recently the gig of 
Commander Evans, of the Yorktoion, was stoned while waiting for 
him at the Mole. 

The evidence of our sailors clearly shows that the attack was 
expected by the Chilean people, that threats had been made against 
our men, and that in one case .somewhat early in the afternoon, the 
keeper of one house, into which some of otir men had gone, closed 
his establishment in anticipation of the attack which he advised 
them would be made upon them as darkness came on. 

In a report of Capt. Schley to the Navy Department he says: 

111 tlie only iiilL-rvicw that I h.id with Jmlge Foster, who is investigating the case 
relative to the disturbance, before he was aware of the entire gravity of the matter, he 
informed me that the assault upon my men was the outcome of hatred for our people 
among the lower classes, because they thought we had sympathized with the Balmaceda 
government on account of the Itata matter, whether with reason or without he could, 
of course, not admit; but such he thought was the explanation of the assault at that 
time. 

Several of our men sought security from the mob by such com- 
plete or partial changes in their dress as would conceal the fact of 
their being seamen of the Baltimore and found it then possible to 
walk the streets without molestation. These incidents conclusively 
establish that the attack was upon the uniform — the nationality — 
and not upon the men. 

The origin of this feeling is probably found in the refusal of this 
Government to give recognition to the Congressional party before 
it had established itself in the seizure of the Itata for an alleged 
violation of the neutrality law, in the cable incident, and in the 
charge that Admiral Brown conveyed information to Valparaiso of 
the landing at Quinteros. It is not m>- purpose to enter here any 
defense of the action of this Government in the.se matters. It is 
enough for the present purpose to say that if there was any breach 
of international comity or duty on our part it should have been 
made the subject of official complaint through diplomatic channels 
or of reprisals for which a full responsibility was assumed. We 
can not consent that these incidents and these perversions of the 
truth .shall be u.sed to excite a murderous attack upon our unoffend- 
ing sailors and the Government of Chile go acquit of responsibility. 
In fact, the conduct of this Government during the war in Chile 
pursued those lines of international duty which we had so strongly 
insisted upon on the part of other nations when this country was 
in the throes of a civil conflict. We continued the established 



1 82 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

diplomatic relations with the government in jjower until it was 
overthrown, and promptly and cordialh- recognized the new govern- 
ment when it was established. The good offices of this Government 
were offered to bring about a peaceful adjustment, and the inter- 
position of Mr. Egan to mitigate severities and to shelter adherents 
of the Congressional party were effective and frequent. The charge 
against Admiral Brown is too base to gain credence with amone 
who knows his high personal and professional character. 

Recurring to the evidence of our sailors, I think it is shown that 
there were several distinct assaults and so nearly simultaneous as to 
show that they did not spread from one point. A press summary 
of the report of the fiscal shows that the evidence of the Chilean 
officials and others was in conflict as to the place of origin, several 
places being named by different witnesses as the locality where the 
first outbreak occurred. This, if correctly reported, shows that 
there were several distinct outbreaks, and so nearly at the same 
time as to cause this confusion. 

The La Patria, in the same issue from which I have already 
quoted, after describing the killing of Riggin and the fight which 
from that point extended to the ]\Iole, says : 

At the same time in other streets of the port the Yankee sailors fouglit fiercely with 
the people of the town, who believed to see in them incarnate enemies of the Chilean 
navy. 

The testimony of Capt. Jenkins, of the American merchant ship 
Kciveenatv, which had gone to Valparaiso for repairs, and who was 
a witness of some part of the assault upon the crew of the Baltimore., 
is strongly corroborative of the testimony of our own sailors when 
he says that he saw Chilean sentries drive back a .seaman, seeking 
shelter, upon a mob that was pursuing him. The officers and men 
of Capt. Jenkins's ship furnish the most conclusive testimony as to 
the indignities which were practiced towards Americans in Val- 
paraiso. When American sailors, even of merchant ships, can only 
secure their safety by den)ing their nationality, it must be time 
to readjust our relations with a government that permits such 
demonstrations. 

As to the participation of the police, the evidence of our sailors 
shows that our men were struck and beaten by police officers before 
and after arrest, and that one, at least, was dragged with a lasso 
about his neck by a mounted policeman. That the death of Riggin 
was the result of a rifle shot fired by a jjoliceman or soldier on duty 
is shown directly by the testimony of Johnson, in who.se arms he 
was at the time, and by the evidence of Charles Langen, an Amer- 
ican sailor not then a member of the Baltimore's crew, who stood 



Public Papers and Addresses of Ben jam ut llarrisoii. 183 

close b\- and saw the transaction. The Chilean authorities do not 
pretend to fix tlie responsibility of this shot upon au}' particular 
person, but avow their inabilitv to ascertain who fired it, further 
than that it was fired from a crowd. The character of the wound, 
as described by one of the surgeons of the Baltimore, clearly 
supports his opinion that it was made by a rifle ball, the orifice of 
exit being as much as an inch or an inch and a quarter in width. 
When shot the poor fellow was unconscious and in the arms of a 
comrade, who was endeavoring to carry him to a neighboring drug 
store for treatment. The stor\' of the police that, in coming up 
the street, they passed these men and left them behind them, is 
inconsistent with their own statement as to the direction of their 
approach and with their duty to protect them, and is clearly 
disproved. In fact, Riggin was not behind, but in trout of the 
advancing force, and was not standing in the crowd, but was 
unconscious and supported in the arms of Johnson when he was 
.shot. 

The communications of the Chilean Government in relation to 
this cruel and disastrous attack upon our men, as will appear from 
the correspondence, have not in any degree taken the form of a 
manlv and .satisfactory expression of regret, much less of apology. 
The event was of so serious a character that if the injuries suffered 
bv our men had been wholly the result of an accident in a Chilean 
port the incident was grave enough to have called for some public 
expression of sympathy and regret from the local authorities. It is 
not enough to say that the affair was lamentable, for humanity 
would require that expression, even if the beating and killing of 
our men had been justifiable. It is not enough to say that the 
incident is regretted, coupled with the statement that the affair 
was not of an imusual character in ports where foreign sailors are 
accustomed to meet. It is not for a generous and sincere government 
to seek for words of small or equivocal meaning in which to convey 
to a friendlv power an apology for an offense so atrocious as this. 
In the case of the assault by a mob in New Orleans upon the Spanish 
consulate in i''^5i, Mr. Webster wrote to the Spanish minister 
Mr. Calderon, that the acts complained of were "a disgraceful 
and flagrant breach of duty and propriety," and that his Govern- 
ment "regrets them as deeply as Minister Calderon or his Govern- 
ment could possibly do;" that " these acts have caused the Presi- 
dent great pain and he thinks a proper acknowledgment is due to 
Her Majesty's Government." He invited the Spanish consul to 
return to his post guaranteeing protection, and offered to salute the 
Spanish flag if the consul should come in a Spanish vessel. Such a 



184 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

treatment by the Goveriiiueiit of Chile of this assault would have 
been more creditable to the Chilean authorities ; and much less 
can hardly be satisfactory to a Government that values its dignity 
and honor. 

In our note of October 23 last, which appears in the correspondence, 
after receiving the report of the board of officers appointed by Capt. 
Schley to investigate the affair, the Chilean Government was advised 
of the aspect w'hich it then assumed, and called upon for any facts in 
its possession that might tend to modify the unfavorable impressions 
which our report had created. It is very clear from the correspond- 
ence that before the receipt of this note the examination was regarded 
by the police authorities as practically closed. It was, however, 
reopened and protracted through a period of nearly three months. 
We might justly have complained of this unreasonable delay, but, in 
view of the fact that the Government of Chile was still provisional, 
and with a disposition to be forbearing and hopeful of a friendlv 
termination, I have awaited the report which has but recently been 
made. 

On the 2 ist instant I caused to be communicated to the Government 
of Chile, by the American minister at Santiago, the conclusions of 
this Government after a full consideration of all the evidence and 
of every suggestion affecting this matter, and to these conclusions I 
adhere. The}- were stated as follows : 

First. That the assault is not relieved of the aspect which the early information of the 
event gave to it, viz: That of an attack upon the uniform of the U. S. Na\y, having its 
origin and motive in a feeling of hostility to this Government, and not in any act of the 
sailors or of any of them. 

Second. That the public authorities of V'alparaiso, flagrantly failed in their duty to 
protect our men and that some of the police and of the Chilean soldiers and sailors 
were themselves guilty of unprovoked assaults upon our sailors before and after 
arrest. He [the President] thinks the preponderance of the evidence and the inherent 
probabilities lead to the conclusion that Riggin was killed by the police or soldiers. 

Third. That he [the President] is therefore compelled to bring the case back to the 
position taken by this Government in the note of Mr. Wharton, of October 23 last 
* ' * and to ask for a suitable apology and for some adequate reparation for the 
injury done to this Government. 

In the same note the attention of the Chilean Government was 
called to the offensive character of a note addressed b>' Mr. ]Matta, 
its minister of foreign afifairs, to Mr. Montt, its minister at this 
Capital, on the nth ultimo. This dispatch was not officially com- 
municated to this Government ; but, as Mr. Montt was directed to 
translate it and to give it to the press of this country-, it seemed to 
me that it could not pass without official notice. It was not only 
undiplomatic, but grossly insulting to our naval officers and to the 
Executive Department, as it directly imputed untruth and insin- 



Public Papers and Addresses of Boijaniin Harrison. 185 

ccrity to the rejjorts of the naval ofificers and to the official conmin- 
nications made by the Executive Department to Congress. It will 
be observed that I have notified the Chilean Government that, 
unless this note is at once withdrawn and an apology as public as 
the offense made, I will terminate diplomatic relations. 

The request for the recall of Mr. Egan, upon the ground that he 
was not persona o-ra/a, was unaccompanied by any suggestion that 
could properly be used in support of it, and I infer that the request 
is based njiou official acts of Mr. Egan which have received the 
approval of this Government. But, however that may be, I could 
not consent to consider such a question until it had first been 
settled whether our correspondence with Chile could be conducted 
upon a basis of mutual respect. 

In submitting these papers to Congress for that grave and patri- 
otic consideration which the questions involved demand, I desire 
to sa}' that I am of the opinion that the demands made of Chile by 
this Government should be adhered to and enforced. If the dignitv 
as well as the prestige and influence of the United States are not to 
l^e wholly .sacrificed, we must protect those who, in foreign ports, 
display the flag or wear the colors of this Government against 
insult, brutality, and death, inflicted in resentment of the acts of 
their Government, and not for any fault of th^ir own. It has been 
my desire in every way to cultivate friendly and intimate relations 
with all the Governments of this hemisphere. We do not covet 
their territory; we desire their peace and prosperity. We look for 
no advantage in our relations with them, except the increased 
exchanges of commerce upon a basis of mutual benefit. We regret 
every civil contest that disturbs their peace and parah'zes their 
development, and are always ready to give our good offices for the 
restoration of peace. It must, however, be understood that this 
Go\'ernment, while exercising the utmost forbearance towards 
weaker powers, will extend its strong and adequate protection to 
its citizens, to its officers, and to its humblest sailor, when made 
the victims of wantonness and cruelty in resentment, not of their 
personal misconduct, but of the official acts of their Government. 

Upon information received that Patrick Shields, an Irishman 
and probably a British subject, but at the time a fireman of the 
American steamer Keivcenaxs.', in the harbor of Valparaiso for 
repairs, had been subjected to personal injuries in that city — • 
largely by the police — I directed the Attorney-General to cause 
the evidence of the officers and crew of that vessel to be taken 
upon its arrival in San Francisco; and that testimony is also here- 
with transmitted. The brutalit}- and even savagery of the treat- 



i86 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

ment of this poor man by the Chilean police would be incredible 
if the evidence of Shields was not supported by other direct testi- 
mony and by the distressing condition of the man himself when he 
was finally able to reach his vessel. The captain of the vessel says : 

He came back ;i wreck; black from his neck to his hips, from beating; weak and 
stupid, and is still in a kind of paralyzed condition, and has never been able to do 
duty since. 

A claim for reparation has been made in behalf of this man, for, 
while he was not a citizen of the United States, the doctrine long 
held by us, as expressed in the consular regulations, is : 

The principles which are maintained by this Government in regard to the protection, 
as distinguished from the relief, of seamen are well settled. It is held that the circum- 
stance that the vessel is American is evidence that the seamen on board are such ; and 
in every regularly documented merchant vessel the crew will find their protection in 
the'flag that covers them. 

I have as yet received no reply to our note of the 2ist instant, 

but, in my opinion, I ought not to delay longer to bring these 

matters to the attention of Congress for such action as may be 

deemed appropriate. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

January 2^, i8g2. 



AN ADDITIONAL MESSAGE. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

I transmit herewith additional correspondence between this 
Government and the Government of Chile, consisting of a note of 
Mr. Montt, the Chilean minister at this capital to Mr. Blaine, dated 
January 23; a reply of Mr. Blaine thereto of date January 27; and a 
dispatch from Mr. Egan, our minister at Santiago, transmitting the 
response of Mr. Pereira, the Chilean minister of foreign affairs to 
the note of Mr. Blaine of January 21, which was received b)- me on 
the 26th instant. The note of Mr. Montt to Mr. Blaine, though 
dated January 23, was not delivered at the State Department until 
after 12 o'clock, meridian, of the 25th, and was not translated and 
its receipt notified to me until late in the afternoon of that day. 

The response of Mr. Pereira to our note of the 21st withdraws, 
with acceptable expressions of regret, the offensive note of Mr. 
Matta of the nth ultimo, and also the request for the recall of 
Mr. Egan The treatment of the incident of the assault upon the 
sailors of the Baltimore is so conciliatory and friendly that I am of 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjaniiii I/arrison. 187 

the opinion that there is a good prospect that the differences grow- 
ing out of that serious affair can now be adjusted upon terms 
satisfactory to this Government, b\- tlie usual methods and without 
special powers from Congress. This turn in the affair is very grati- 
fying to me, as I am sure it will be to the Congress and to our 
people. The general support of the efforts of the Executive to 
enforce the just rights of the nation in this matter has given an 
instructive and useful illustration of the unity and patriotism of 
our people. 

Should it be necessary, I will again connnunicate with Congress 
upon the subject. 

Bf:nj. Harrison. 
ExKCfTivE Mansion, 

January 2S\ i8g2. 



MINERS IN THE TERRITORIES. 

To the Seiia/e and House of Represe)itatives : 

There was passed by the last Congress "An act for the protection 
of the lives of the miners in the Territories," which was approved 
by me on the 3d day of March, 1891. That no appropriation was 
made to enable me to carry the act into effect resulted, I suppose, 
from the fact that it was passed so late in the session. This law 
recognizes the necessity of a responsible public inspection and 
supervision of the business of mining in the interest of the miners 
and is in line with the legislation of most of the States. 

The work of the miner has its unavoidable incidents of discomfort 
and danger and these should not l^e increased by the neglect of the 
owners to provide every practicable safety appliance. Economies 
which involve a sacrifice of human life are intolerable. 

I transmit herewith memorials from .several hundred miners 
working in the coal mines in the Indian Territory, asking for the 
appointment of an inspector under the act referred to. The recent 
frightful disaster at Krebs, in that Territory, in which sixty-seven 
miners met a horrible death, gives urgency to their appeal, and I 
recommend that a special appropriation be at once made for the 
salaries and necessary expenses of the inspectors provided for in 
the law. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

February /6, i8g2. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bciijaniin Harrison. 



THE CHOCTAW AND CHICKASAW APPROPRIATION. 

To iJie Srini/r and House oj Representatives : 

The Indian appropriation bill, which was approved March 3, 1S91, 
contains the following provision : 

And \\w sum of two million nine hundred and ninety-one lliousiind four luindred 
and fifty dollars be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of any money in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to pay the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations of 
Indians for all the right, title, interest, and claim which said nations of Indians may 
have in and to certain lands now occupied by the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians 
under executive order; said lands lying south of the Canadian River, and now occu- 
pied by the said Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians, said lands have been ceded in trust 
by article three of the treaty between the United States and said Choctaw and Chicka- 
saw nations of Indians, which was concluded April twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-six, and proclaimed on the tenth day of August of the same year, and 
whereof there remains, after deducting allotments as provided by said agreement, a 
residue ascertained by survey to contain two million three hundred and ninety-three 
thousand one hundred and sixty acres ;■ three-fourths of this appropriation to be paid 
to such person or persons as are or shall be duly authorized by the laws of said 
Choctaw Nation to receive the same, at such time and in such sums as directed and 
required by the legislative authority of said Choctaw Nation, and one-fourth of this 
appropriation to be paid to such person or persons as are or shall be duly authorized 
by the laws of said Chickasaw Nation to receive the same, at such times and in such 
sums as directed and required by the legislative authority of said Chickasaw Nation ; 
this appropriation to be immediately available and to become operative upon the 
execution, bv the duly appointed delegates of said respective nations specially author- 
ized thereto by law, of releases and conveyances to the United States of all the right, 
title, interest, and claim of said respective nations of Indians in and to said land (not 
including Grier County, which is now in dispute), in manner and form satisfactory to 
the President of the United States ; and said releases and conveyances, when fully 
executed and delivered, shall operate to extinguish all claim of every kind and 
character of said Choctaw and Chickasaw nations of Indians in and to the tract of 
country to which said releases and conveyances shall apply. 

If this section had been submitted to me as a separate measure, 
especially during the closing hours of the session, I should have 
disapproved it ; but as the Congress was then in its last hours a 
disapproval of the general Indian appropriation bill of which it 
■was a part would have resulted in consequences so far-reaching and 
disastrous that I felt it my duty to approve the bill. But as a duty 
was devolved upon me by the section quoted, viz : the acceptance 
and approval of the conveyances provided for, I have felt bound to 
look into the whole matter, and in view of the facts which I shall 
presently mention, to postpone any executive action until these 
facts could be submitted to Congress. 

Ver>' soon after the passage of the law it came to my knowledge 
that the Choctaw legislature had entered into an agreement with 
three citizens of that tribe to pay to them as compensation for 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaniiii Harrison. 189 

procuring- this legislation 25 per cent of any appropriation that 
might be made by Congress. The amount to be secured by these 
three agents, under this agreement, out of the three-fourths interest 
in the appropriation of the Choctaw Nation, is $560,896. I have 
information that a contract was made by the Chickasaws to pay 
about 10 per cent of their one-fourth interest to the agents and 
attorneys who represented them. 

Within a month after the passage of the law, R. J. Ward, one of 
the agents who was to divide with his two associates the enormous 
sum to be paid b>- the Choctaws, presented to me an affidavit dated 
April 4, 1891, which is herewith submitted. It appears from this 
statement that the action of the Choctaw council in this matter was 
corruptly influenced by the execution of certain notes signed by 
Ward for himself and his associates in sums varying from $2,500 
to $15,000. His associates deny any knowledge of this, but the 
giving and existence of these notes is not refuted. The statement 
of the two associates of Ward, denying any knowledge of or partici- 
pation in this fraud, are also submitted, together with other papers 
relating to the matter. Whatever may be the fact as to the use 
or nonuse of corrupt methods to secure this legislation from the 
Choctaw council, I do not think the Congress of the United States 
should so legislate upon this matter as to give effect to such a 
contract, which I am sure must have been unnoticed when the 
measure was pending. If the relations of these Indians to the 
United States are those of a ward. Congress should protect them 
from such extortionate exactions. We can not as.sume that the 
expenses and services of a committee of three persons to represent 
this claim before Congress could justly assume such proportion; . 
The making of such a contract seems to convey implications which, 
I am sure, are wlioU)' unjust. 

After the passage of the appropriation bill, legislation was had 
by the Choctaw Nation looking to the completion of the contract 
made with their delegates as to the payment of this money, but 
subsequently, when it was supposed that this extraordinary arrange- 
ment might require me to bring the matter to the attention of 
Congress, an act was passed by the Choctaw general council, 
approved October 19, 1891, declaring all contracts made by the 
Choctaw delegates with any attornej's in connection with this 
appropriation void and of no effect. A copy of this law will be 
found with the papers submitted. There has also been submitted 
to me an unofficial copy of the opinion of the attorney-general of 
the Choctaw Nation liolding that this last legislation is unconstitu- 
tional and void. I am of the opinion that, if this appropriation is to 



igo Public Papers and Addresses of Peiijaiiiiii Harrison. 

stand, provision should be made for protecting these tribes against 
extortionate claims for compensation in procuring action by Con- 
gress. 

Copies of the several laws passed by the Choctaw Nation with 
reference to this matter will be found in the accompanying papers. 
It will be noticed that the distribution proposed is limited to 
Choctaws b)- blood, excluding the freedmen and the white men 
who have been given full citizenship from any participation. A 
protest against this method of distribution has been filed by a white 
citizen of the tribe, and also a representation by Hon. Thomas C. 
Fletcher, their attorney, on behalf of the freedmen. In view of 
the fact that the stipulations of the treaty of 1866, in behalf of 
the freedmen of these tribes, have not, especially in the case of the 
Chickasaws, been complied with, it would seem that the United 
States should, in a distribution of this money, have made suitable 
provision in their behalf. The Chickasaws have steadfastly refused 
to admit the freedmen to citizenship as they stipulated to do in the 
treaty referred to, and their condition in that tribe, and in a lesser 
degree in the other, strongly calls for the protective intervention of 
Congress. 

After a somewhat careful examination of the question, I do 
not believe that the lands for which this money is to be paid were, 
to quote the language of section 15 of the Indian appropriation 
bill, already set out, "ceded in trust by article three of the treaty 
between the United States and said Choctaw and Chickasaw nations 
of Indians, which was concluded April 28, 1866," etc. It is agreed 
that that treaty contained no express limitation upon the uses to 
which the United States might put the territory known as the 
leased district. The lands were ceded by terms sufficiently compre- 
hensive to have passed the full title of the Indians. The limitation 
upon the use to which the Government might put them is sought to 
be found in a provision of the treaty by which the United States 
undertook to exclude white settlers, and in the expressions found 
in the treaties made at the same time with the Creeks and other 
tribes of the purpose of the United States to use the lands ceded by 
those tribes for the settlement of friendly Indians. 

The stipulation as to the exclusion of white settlers might well 
have reference solely to the national lands retained by the Choctaw 
and Chickasaw tribes, and the reason for the nonincorporation in 
the treaty with them of a statement of the purpose of the Government 
in connection with the use of the lands is well accounted for b)' 
the fact that as to these lands the Government had alread)-, under 
the treaty of 1855, secured the right to use them perpetually for the 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 191 

settlement of friendly Indians. Tliis was not trne as to the lands 
of the other tribes referred to. The United States paid to the 
Choctaws and Chickasaws #300,000, and the failure to insert the 
words that are called words of limitation in this treaty, points, I 
think, clearly to the conclnsion that the commissioners on the part 
of the Government, and the Indians themselves, must have under- 
stood that this Government was acquiring something more than a 
mere right to settle friendly Indians, which is already possessed, 
and something more than the mere release of the right which the 
Choctaws and Chickasaws had under the treat\' of 1855 to select 
locations on these lands if they chose. 

Undoubtedly it was the policy of this Government for the time 
to hold these and the adjacent lands as Indian country, and many 
of the expressions in the proclamations of mv predecessors and in 
the reports of the Indian Bureau and of the Secretar\' of the Interior 
mean this and nothing more. This is quite diiTerent from a con- 
ditional title which limits the grant to a particular use and works a 
reinvestment of full title in the Indian grantors when that use 
ceases. But those who hold most strictly that a use for Indian 
purposes, where it is expressed, is a limitation of title seem to agree 
that the United States might pass a fee absolute to other Indian 
tribes in the lands ceded for their occupancy. Certainly it was not 
intended that in settling friendly Indians upon these lands the 
Ciovernment was to be restrained in its polic}' of allotment aud 
indi\-idnal ownership. If, for an adequate consideration b)- treat}-, 
the United States placed upon these lands other Indian tribes, it 
was competent to give them patents in fee for a certain and agreed 
reservation. This being so, when the policy of allotment is put 
into force the compensation for the unused lands sliould certainly 
go to the occupying tribe, which, in the case supposed had paid a 
full consideration for the whole reservation. 

It will hardly be contended that in such case this Government 
shotild pay twice for the lands. In the appropriation under discussion 
this principle is in part recognized, for no claim is made by tiie 
Clioctaws and Chickasaws for the lands allotted to the Ciieyennes 
and Arapahoes. The claim is for unallotted or surplus lands. The 
case of the Cheyennes and x\rapahoes is this : In consideration of 
other lands the (Government gave them a treaty reservation in the 
Cherokee Outlet, but never perfected it by paying the Cherokees 
the stipulated price and placing these Indians upon it. The Chey- 
ennes and Arapahoes declined to go upon the strip and located 
themselves further south, where they now are. The (lOvernmcnt 
subsequently recognized their right to renuiin there and set apart 



192 Public Papers and Addresses of Bcjijaiiiin Harrison. 

the lands now being allotted to members of that tribe, and the lands 
for which payment is now claimed by the Choctaw and Chickasaws, 
as the Cheyenne and x\rapahoe Reservation. I think the United 
States must be held to have assented to the substitution of these 
lands for the treaty lands in the Cherokee Strip, and that being true 
when the reservation is broken up, as now, by allotments, it would 
seem that the Cheyennes and Arapahoes were entitled to be com- 
pensated for these surplus lands. In fact, a commission which 
has been dealing with the tribes in the Indian Territory has con- 
cluded an arrangement with them by which the Government pays 
$1,500,000 for these surplus lands and for the release of any claim 
to the Cherokee Strip, so that, in fact, in this agreement with the 
Cheyennes and Arapahoes, the Government has paid for the lands 
for which payment is now claimed by the Choctaws and Chickasaws. 

It should not be forgotten, also, that the allotment to the 
Cheyennes and Arapahoes is still incomplete. The method of 
calculation which was resulted in stating the claim of the Choctaws 
and Chickasaws at $2,991,450 is explained by a letter of Mr. J. S. 
Standley, one of the Choctaw delegates, dated April 6, 1891. The 
agent for the Cheyennes and Arapahoes wrote Mr. Standley that 
there were 600 Indians residing upon the lands south of the Cana- 
dian River, and who it was supposed would take allotments there, 
and upon this statement the legislation was based. Now, it must 
be borne in mind that the Cheyennes and Arapahoes have the right 
to locate anywhere within their reservation, and that instead of 6o3, 
double that number might have taken their allotments south of the 
Canadian River upon these lands. This is not probable, but a later 
report indicates that the number will certainly be in excess of 600. 
If the sum to be paid to the Choctaws and Chickasaws depended 
upon a knowledge of the number of acres of unallotted land south 
of the Canadian River, it would seem to have been reasonable that 
the approijriation should have been delayed imtil the exact number 
of acres taken for allotment had been officially ascertained. This 
has not yet been done. 

It is right also, I think, that Congress in dealing with this matter 
should have the whole question before it; for the declaration of 
Indian title contained in this item of appropriation extends to a 
very large body of land and will in\-ol\e \er\- large future appro- 
priations. The Choctaw and Chickasaw leased district, embracing 
the lands in the Indian Territory between the ninety-eighth and one- 
hundredth degrees of west longitude and extending north and south 
from the main Canadian River to the Red River, including Greer 
County, contains, according to the public surveys, 7,713,239 acres. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bcit/'auiiii Harrison. 193 

or, excluding Greer County, 6,201,663 acres. This leased district 
is occupied as follows: Greer County, by white citizens of Texas, 
1,511,576 acres. The United States is now prosecuting a case in 
the courts to obtain a judicial declaration that this countv is part 
of the Indian countrs'. If a decision should be rendered in its favor, 
the claim of the Choctaws and Chickasaws to be paid for these 
lands at the rate named in this appropriation would at once be 
presented. 

The Wichita Reservation is also upon the leased lands and is 
occupied by the Wichitas, Caddoes, Delawares, and remnants of 
other tribes, by Department orders made to depend upon the treaty 
with the Delawares in 1866 and some other unratified agreements 
with tribes or fragments of tribes in 1872. This reservation con- 
tains 743,610 acres. 

The Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Reservation is occupied by 
those Indians under a treaty proclaimed August 25, 1868, which 
provides that said district of country "shall be, and the .same is 
hereby, set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupa- 
tion of the tribes herein named, and for such friendly tribes or 
indi\'idual Indians as from time to time they may be willing (with 
the consent of the United States) to admit among them." This 
reservation contains 2,968,893 acres. 

The Cheyennes and Arapahoes, whose surplus lands are to be 
paid for by this appropriation, have occupied the country between 
the Washita and Canadian rivers extending west to the one 
hundredth degree of longitude. This reservation contains 2,489, 160 
acres. 

I have stated these facts in order that it may be seen what further 
appropriations are involved in a settlement for all these lands upon 
the basis which Congress has adopted. It does not seem iu me to 
be a wise policy to deal with this question piecemeal. It would 
have been better, if a remnant of title remains in the Choctaws and 
Chickasaws to the lands in the leased district, to have settled the 
whole matter at once. Under the treaty of 1855 the Choctaws 
and Chickasaws quitclaimed any supposed interest of theirs in the 
lands west of the one hundredth degree. The boundary between 
the Louisiana purchase and the Spanish possessions by our treaty 
of 1S19 with Spain was, as to these lands, fixed upon the one 
hundredth degree of west longitude. 

Our treaty with the Choctaws and Chicka.saws, made in 1820, 

extended their grant to the limit of our possessions. It followed, of 

course, that these lands were included within the boundaries of the 

State of Texas when that State was admitted to the Union, and the 

15151 13 



194 I'nblic Papers and Addresses of Beiijaiiiiii /larrison. 

release of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, whatever it was worth, 
operated for the benefit of the State of Texas and not of the United 
States. The lands became pnblic lands of that State. For the 
release of this claim and for the lease of the lands west of the 
ninety-eighth degree the f lOvernment of the United vStates paid the 
snm of $800,000. In the calcnlations which have been made to 
arrive at the basis of the appropriation nnder discnssion, no part of 
this snni is treated as having been paid for the lease. I do not 
think that is just to the United States. It seems probable that a 
very considerable part of this consideration must have related to 
the leased lands, because these were the lands in which the Indian 
title was recognized and the treaty gave to the United States a 
permanent right of occupation by friendly Indians. The sum of 
$300,000, paid nnder the treaty of 1866, is deducted, as I under- 
stand, in arriving at the sum approj^riated. It seems to me that a 
considerable proportion of the sum of $800,000 previously paid 
should have been deducted in the same manner. 

I have felt it to be my duty to bring these matters to the attention 
of Congress for such action as may be thought advisable. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

February //, iSg2. 



THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

I transmit herewith for the information of Congress the annual 
report of the World's Columbian Commission, a supplementary 
report of the same commission, submitted February 16, 1892, the 
report of the board appointed by me under section 16 of the act of 
April 25, 1890, to have charge of the exhibit to be made b\- the 
Executive Departments, the Smithsonian Institution, the Fish Com- 
mission, and the National Museum, and the report of the Board of 
Lady Managers provided for by section 6 of the act referred to. 

The information furnished by these reports as to the progress of 
the work is not only satisfactory but highly gratifying. The plan 
and scope adopted, and the site and buildings selected and now 
being erected, are fully commensurate with the national and inter- 
national character of the enterprise contemplated by the legislation 
of Congress. The Illinois corporation has fully comi^lied with the 
condition of the law that #10,000,000 should be provided, and the 



Public Papers and Addresses of Betijamui Harrison. 195 

Government Commission reports that "The o-rounds and buildings 
will be the most extensive, adequate, and ornate ever devoted 
to such purposes." It seems, however, that from $5,000,000 to 
$8,000,000 more will, in the opinion of the local board and the 
National Commission, be necessary- to prepare the Exposition for a 
complete and successful inauguration. 

It will be noticed from the reports that it was first proposed by 
the local commission to ask of Congress a loan of $5,000,000, to be 
repaid from receipts, and that the National Commission approved 
this suggestion. Subsequently the Illinois Exposition Corporation 
reconsidered its action and determined to ask a subscription of 
$5,000,000. The supplementary report of the National Commission 
seems to approve this amended proposition. I have not myself that 
detailed information as to the financial necessities of the enterprise 
which would enable me to form an independent judgment of the 
additional amount necessary, and am not therefore prepared to 
make any specific recommendation to Congress ujiou the subject. 
The committees of Congress having this matter in charge will 
undoubtedly obtain full and accurate information before final action. 

The Exposition, notwithstanding the limitations which the act 
contains, is an enterprise to which the United States is so far 
committed that Congress ought not, I think, to withhold just and 
reasonable further support, if the local corporation consents to 
proper conditions. 

Liberality on the part of the United States is due to the foreign 
nations that have responded in a friendly way to the invitation of 
this (TO\-ernmeut to participate in the Exposition and will, I aui 
sure, meet the approval of our people. The Exposition will be one 
of the most illustrious incidents in our civic history. 

I transmit also certain resolutions adopted b\- representatives of the 
National Guards of the various States, apiaointed by the governors to 
attend a convention which was held in Chicago on the 27th of 
October, 1891, with a view to consider the subject of holding a 
military encampment at Chicago during the Exposition, 

Benj. Harki.son. 

Executive Mansion, 

February ^^, iSg2. 



196 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 



APPROPRIATION FOR THE GRAND ARMY OF THE 

REPUBLIC. 

To the Senate and House 0/ Representatives : 

I transmit herewith a communication from the Board of Commis- 
sioners of the District of Columbia, accompanied by a letter from 
the chairman of the executive committee organized by the citizens 
of Washington for the reception and entertainment of the Twenty- 
sixth Annual Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
which is to be held in Washington during September next. An 
appeal is made for an appropriation by Congress of $100,000, one- 
half to be paid out of the District revenues, to aid in defraying the 
expenses attending this reception. 

The event is one of very high and, as I believe, of national 
interest, and the attendance of the surviving Union soldiers will, I 
do not doubt, be larger than at an>' annual encampment that has 
ever been held. The public authorities of the cities or States, or 
both, in which the encampments have been held have, I believe, 
usually appropriated liberally to make the occasions worth\- and the 
entertainment hospitable. The parade of the survivors of our great 
armies upon Pennsylvania avenue will bring vividly back to us those 
jo) ful and momentous days when the great victorious armies of the 
East and of the West marched through the streets of Washington 
in high parade and were received by our citizens with joyful acclaim. 
It seems to me that it will be highly appropriate for Congress 
suitably to aid in making this demonstration impressive, and in 
extending to those soldiers whose lives a beneficent Providence has 
prolonged an opportunity to see in the security and peace, develop- 
ment and prosperity, which now so happily pervade- the national 
capital, the fruits of their sacrifice and valor. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

March 24, i8g2. 



INTERNATIONAL SILVER CONFERENCE. 

To the Senate: 

I have received the resolution of the Senate of April 23, requesting 
that, if not incompatible with the public interest, I inform the Senate 
what steps have been taken towards the securing of an international 
conference to consider the question of the free coinage of silver at 



Public Papers a>id Addresses of Ben /'a ui in Harrison. igy 

the mints of the nations participating in snch conference, or as to 
tlie enhirged use of silver in the currency system of said countries, 
and tliat I transmit to the vSenate any correspondence between the 
United States and other governments upon the subject, and in 
response thereto, beg respectfully to inform the Senate that in m\ 
opinion it would not be compatible with the public interest to lav 
before the Senate at this time the information requested; but that 
at the earliest moment after definite information can properly be 
given, all the facts and an)- correspondence that may take place 
will be submitted to Congress. 

It may not be inappropriate, however, to say here that, believing 
that the full use oi sih'er as a coin metal upon an agreed ratio hv 
the great commercial nations of the world would verv highlv 
promote the prosperity of all their people, I have not and will not 
let any favorable opportunity pass for the promotion of that most 
desirable result, or if free international silver coinage is not presently 
attainable, then to secure the largest practicable use of that metal. 

Bknj. Harrison. 
Executive MAx.giON, 

April 26, iS()2. 



THE CULLUM MEMORIAL HALL, WEST POINT. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

I transmit herewith a communication of the Secretary of War, 
dated May 24, from which and from the accompauN'ing papers it 
appears that the late Gen. George W. Culhnn, of the U. S. Army, 
has b\- will devised $250,000 to the Government of the United States 
for the erection of a memorial hall upon the grounds of the Military 
Academy at West Point, to be used as a " receptacle of statues, 
busts, mural tablets, and portraits of distinguished deceased officers 
and graduates of the Military Academy, of paintings of battle 
scenes, trophies of war, and such other objects as may tend to give 
elevation to the military profession." 

This ample and patriotic gift is hampered by no conditions and 
involves no appropriation be\'oud the sum so generouslv donated. 

The executors, in order to facilitate action, have prepared, and 
the same is herewith submitted, the outline of a bill to carry into 
effect the provisions of General Cullunrs will. 

There can be no occasion to urge upon Congress the immediate 
enactment of a suitable law to carrj' into effect the patriotic purpose 
expressed in the will- 



I9<S Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

I suggest that in the bill itself, or by a separate joint resolution, 
suitable expression be given of the public appreciation of this 
crowning service to the niilitar}- profession and to his country, 
rendered by General Culluni. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

May .35, i8g2. 



RECIPROCAL TRADE WITH CANADA. 

To the Senate of the United States : 

The following resolution was passed by the Senate on the 24th 
day of February last: 

Resolved, That the President be requested, if in his opinion not incompatible with 
the public interests, to inform the Senate of the proceedings recently had with the 
representatives of the Dominion of Canada and of the British Government as to 
arrangements for reciprocal trade between Canada and the United States. 

In response thereto I now submit the following information : 
On the 15th day of April last the Secretary of State submitted 
to me a report, which is herewith transmitted. Shortly after the 
report came into my possession I was advised by the Secretarv 
that the British minister at this capital had informed him that the 
Canadian Government desired a further conference on the subject 
of the discriminating canal tolls of which this country had com- 
plained. This information was accompanied by the suggestion 
that a response to the resolution of the Senate might properly be 
dela\-cd until this further conference was held. 

On the 3d instant the British minister, in connection with Hon. 
MacKenzie Bowell and Hon. George E. Foster, members of the 
Canadian ministry, were received by the Secretary of State, and a 
further conference took place. In both of the conferences referred 
to, Hon. John W. Foster, at the request of the Secretary of State, 
appeared with him on behalf of this Government, and the report 
of the latter conference was submitted to me on the 6th instant by 
Mr. Foster, and is herewith transmitted. The result of the con- 
ference, as to the practicability of arranging a reciprocity treaty 
with the Dominion of Canada, is clearly stated in the letter of Mr. 
Blaine, and was anticipated, I think, by him and by every other 
thoughtful American who had considered the subject. A reciprocity 
treaty, limited to the exchange of natural products, would have 
been such only in form. The benefits of such a treaty would have 
inured almost wholly to Canada. Previous experiments on this 



Public Papers ami Addresses of Beujaniin Harrison. i<)9 

line had been unsatisfactory to this Government. A treaty that 
should be reciprocal in fact, and of mutual advantage, must neces- 
sarily have embraced an important list of manufactured articles, 
and ha\-e secured to the United States a free or favored introduction 
of these articles into Canada as against the world ; but it was not 
believed that the Canadian ministry was ready to propose or assent 
to such an arrangement. The conclusion of the Canadian commis- 
sioners is stated in the report of Mr. Blaine as follows : 

In the second place, it seemed to be impossible for the Canadian Government, in 
view of its present political relations and obligations, to extend to American goods 
a preferential treatment over those of other countries. As Canada was a part of the 
British Empire, they did not consider it competent for the Dominion Government to 
enter into any commercial arrangement with the United States, from the benefits of 
which Great Britain and its colonies should be excluded 

It is not for this Government to argue against this announcement 
of Canadian official opinion. It must l)e accepted, however, I think, 
as the statement of a condition which places an insuperable barrier 
in the wav of the attainment of that large and beneficial intercourse 
and reciprocal trade which might tjtherwise be developed between 
the United States and the Dominion. 

It will be noticed that ]Mr. Blaine reports as one of the results of 
the conference "an informal engagement to repeal and abandon 
the drawback of i8 cents a ton given to wheat (grain) that is carried 
through to Montreal and shipped therefrom to Europe. By the 
American raihvavs running from Ogdensburg and Oswego and 
other .\merican ports the shippers paid the full 20 cents a ton, 
while in effect those by the way of Montreal pay only 2 cents. It 
was understood that the Canadian commissioners, who were all 
three members of the calnnet, would see to the withdrawal of this 
discrimination." 

Prom the report of the recent conference, by Mr. Foster, it will 
be seen that the Canadian commissioners declare that this statement 
does not conform to their understanding, and that the only assurance 
they had intended to give was that the complaint of the Govern- 
ment of the United States should be taken into consideration by the 
Canadian ministry on their return to Ottawa. Mr. Foster, who was 
present at the first conference, confirms the statements of Mr. Blaine. 
While this misunderstanding is unfortunate, the more serious phase 
of the situation is that, instead of rescinding the discriminating 
canal tolls of which this Government complains, the Canadian min- 
istry, after the return of the commissioners from their visit to Wash- 
ington, on April 4, reissued, without any comminiicatiou with tiiis 
Government, the order continuing the di.scriminatiou, by which a 



200 Public Papers and Addresses of Be)ija»iiii Harrison. 

rebate of i8 cents a ton is allowed npoii grain going to Montreal 
but not to American ports, and refusing this rebate even to grain 
going to Montreal if transshipped at any American port. 

The report of Mr. Partridge, the solicitor of the Department of 
State, which accompanies the letter of the Secretary of State, states 
these discriminations very clearly. That these orders as to canal 
tolls and rebates are in direct violation of article 27 of the treaty of 
187 1 seem to be clear. It is wholly evasive to say that there is no 
discrimination between Canadian and American vessels; that the 
rebate is allowed to both without favor, upon grain carried through 
to Montreal, or transshipped at a Canadian port to Montreal. The 
treaty runs: 

To secure to the citizens of the United States tlie use of the Welland, St. Lawrence, 
and other canals in tlie Dominion on terms of equality with the inhabitants of the 
Dominion. 

It was intended to g've to consumers in the United States, to our 
people engaged in railroad transportation, and to those exporting 
from our ports equal terms in passing their merchandise through 
these canals. This absolute equality of treatment was the considera- 
tion for concessions on the part of this Government made in the same 
article of the treaty, and which have been faithfully kept. It is a 
matter of regret that the Canadian Government has not responded 
promptly to our request for the removal of these discriminating 
tolLs. 

The papers submitted show how serious the loss inflicted is upon 
our lake vessels and upon some of our lake ports. In view of the 
fact that the Canadian commissioners still contest with us the claim 
that these tolls are discriminating, and insist that they constitute no 
violation of the letter or spirit of article 27 of the treaty, it would 
seem appropriate that Congress, if the view held by the Executive 
is approved, should, with deliberation and )-et with promptness, 
take such steps as may be necessary to secure the just rights of our 
citizens. 

In view of the delays which have already taken jilace in trans- 
mitting this correspondence to Congress, I have not felt justified in 
awaiting the further communication from the Government of Canada 
which was suggested in the recent conference. 

Should any proposition relating to this matter be received, it will 
be immediately submitted for the consideration of the Senate; and, 
if forwarded within the time suggested, will undoubtedly anticipate 
any final action by Congress. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

June 20^ iS()2. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Plarrison. 201 

ADDITIONAL. MESSAGE. 

To tlie Senate : 

For the information of the Senate, and in fnrther response to the 
resolution of tlie Senate of February 24th last, I transmit herewith 
a coinmunication of the 24th instant from Mr. Herbert, the acting 
representative of the British Governm_-nt at this capital, addressed 
to Mr. Wharton, acting Secretary of State, upon the subject of the 
Canadian canal tolls; also a memorandum prepared and submitted 
to me by Mr. Adee, Second Assistant Secretary of State, reviewing 
the communication of Mr. Herbert, and a letter of the 2Sth instant 
from Mr. John W. Foster, who, as I have previously stated, with 
Mr. Blaine represented this Government in the conferences with 
the Canadian commissioners. 

The position taken b>' this Government, as expressed in my 
previous communication to the Senate, that the canal tolls and 
regulations of which complaint has been made are in \'ioIation of 
our treaty with (rreat Britain, is not shaken but rather confirmed. 
There can be no doubt that a serious discrimination against our 
citizens and our commerce exists, and quite as little doubt that 
this discrimination is not the incident but the purpose of Canadian 
regulations. 

It has not seemed to me that this was a case in which we could 
yield to the suggestion of further concessions on the part of the 
United States with a view to securing treaty rights for which a 
consideration has alread\' been g-iven. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

July /, iSq2. 



RA.ILWA.Y TRA.NSPORTA.TION THROUGH CANADA. 

To the Senate and House of Representatives : 

On the 23d of July last the following resolution of the House of 
Representatives was communicated to me : 

Rt'Solv^d, That the President be requested to iiil'min the Hdusi-, if nut incompatible 
with the public interests, what regulations are now in force concern ins; the transportation 
of imported merchandise in bond or duty paid or products or manufactures of tlie 
United States from one port in the United States over Canadian territory to another port 
therein, under the provisions of section 3006 of the Revised Statutes; wliether further 
legislation thereon is necessary or advisable, and especially wliethera careful inspection 
of such merchandise should not be had at the frontiers of the United States upon the 
departure and arrival of such merchandise, and whether theinterestsof the United States 
do not require that each car containing such merchandise, while in Canadian territorv, 
be in the custody and under the surveillance to be paid by the foreign carrier transporting 
such meichandise. 



202 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

The resolution is limited in its scope to the subject of the transit 
of merchandise from one port in the United States through Canadian 
territory, to another port in the United States under the provision 
of section 3006 of the Revised Statutes; but I have concluded that a 
review of our treaty obligations, if any, and of our legislation upon 
the whole subject of the transit of goods from, to, or through Canada 
is desirable, and therefore address this message to the Congress. 

It should be known, before new legislation is proposed, whether 
the United States is under any treaty obligations which affect this 
subject growing out of the provisions of article 29 of the treaty of 
Washington. That article is as follows : 

It is agreed that, for the term of )^ears mentioned in Article xxxin of this treaty, 
goods, wares, or merchandise arriving at the ports of New Yorlc, Boston, and Port, 
land, and an)' other ports in the United States which have been or may, from time to 
time, be especially designated by the President of the United States, and destined for 
Her Britannic Majesty's possessions in North America, may be entered at the proper 
custom-house and conveyed in transit, without the payment of duties, through the 
territory of the United States, under such rules, regulations, and conditions for the 
protection of the revenue as the Government of the United States may from time to 
time prescribe; and under like rules, regulations, and conditions, goods, wares, or 
merchandise may be conveyed in transit, without the payment of duties, fiom such 
possessions through the territory of the United States for export from the said ports of 
the United States. 

It is further agreed that, for the like period, goods, wares, or merchandise arriving 
at any of the ports of Her Britannic Majesty's possessions in North America and 
destined for the United States may be entered at the proper custom-house and con- 
vej'ed in transit, without the payment of duties, through the said possessions, under 
such rules and regulations, and conditions for the protection of the revenue, as the 
governments of the said possessions may from time to time prescribe; and under like 
rules, regulations, and conditions, goods, wares, or merchandise may be conveyed in 
transit, without payment of duties, from the United States through the said possessions 
to other places in the United States, or for export from ports in the said possessions. 

It will be noticed that provision is here made — 

First. For the transit in bond, without the payment of duties, of 
goods arriving at specified ports of the United States, and at others 
to be designated by the President, destined for Canada. 

Second. For the transit from Canada to ports of the United States 
without the payment of duties of merchandise for export. 

Third. For the transit of merchandise arriving at Canadian ports, 
destined for the United States, through Canadian territory, to the 
United States, without the payment of duties to the Dominion 
Government. 

Fourth. For the transit of merchandise from the United States to 
Canadian .ports for export, without the paN'ineut of duties; 

Fifth. For the transit of merchandise, without the payment of 
duties, from the United States, through Canada, to other places in 
tlie United States. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bcnjaniin Harrison. 203 

The first and second of these provisions were concessions by tlie 
United .States, and were made subject to "such rules, regulations, 
and conditions for the protection of the revenue as the ( Tovernnient 
of the United States may from time to time prescribe." The third, 
fourth, and fifth provisions of the article are concessions on the 
part of the Dominion of Canada, and are made subject "to such 
rules, regulations, and conditions for the protection of the revenue 
as the government of the said possessions may from time to time 
prescribe." The first and second and the third and fourth of these 
provisions are reciprocal in their nature. The fifth, which provides 
for the transit of merchandise from one point in the United States, 
through Canada, to another point in the United States is not met 
by a reciprocal provision for the passage of Canadian goods from 
one point in Canada to another point in Canada through the United 
States. If this article of the treaty is in force the obligations 
assumed by the United States should be fully and honorably 
observed until such time as this Government shall free itself from 
them by methods provided in the treaty or recognized by inter- 
national law. It is, however, no part of the obligation restingupon 
the United States under the treaty that it will use the concessions 
made to it by Canada. This Government would undoubtedlv meet 
its full duty by vielding in an ample manner the concessions made 
b)- it to Canada. There could be no just cause for complaint b\- 
Great Britain or Canada if the compensating concession to the 
United States should not be exercised. We have not stipulated in 
the treaty that we will permit merchandi.se to be moved through 
Canadian territory from one point of the United States to anotlier 
at the will of the shipper; the stipulation is on the part of Canada 
that it will permit such merchandise to enter its territory from the 
United States, to pass through it, and to return to the United States 
without the exaction of duties and without other burdens than such 
as ma\- be necessary to protect its re\enues. 

The questions whether we shall continue-to allow merchandise to 
pa.ss from one point in the United States through Canadian territor\- 
to another point in the United States, and if so to what exactions 
and examinations it shall be subjected on reentering our territory-, 
are wholly within the power of Congress, without reference to the 
question whether article 29 is or is not in force. 

The treaty of Washington embraced a number of absolutely inde- 
pendent subjects. Its purpose, as recited, was "to provide for an 
amicable settlement of all causes of difference between the two 
countries." It provided for four distinct arbitrations of imsettled 
questions, including the Alabama claims, for a temporary settle- 



204 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

ment of the questions growing out of the fisheries, and for various 
arrangements affecting coniinerce and intercourse between the 
United States and the British North American possessions. Some 
of its provisions were made terminable by methods pointed out in 
the treaty. Articles i to 17, inclusive, provide for the settlement 
of the Alabama claims and of the claims of British subjects against 
the United States, and have been fully executed. Articles 18 to 25, 
inclusive, relate to the subject of the fisheries and provide for a joint 
commission to determine what indemnity should be paid to Great 
Britain for the fishing privileges conceded. These articles have 
been terminated by the notice provided for in the treaty. 

Article 26 provides for the free navigation of the St. Lawrence, 
Yukon, Porcupine, and Stickeen rivers. Article 27 provides for 
the equal use of certain frontier canals and waterways, and contains 
no provision for termination upon notice. Article 28 opens Lake 
IMichigan to the commerce of British subjects, under proper regu- 
lations, and contains a provision for its abrogation, to which 
reference will presently be made. Article 30 provides for certain 
privileges of transshipment on the lakes and northern waterways 
and contains the same provision as article 29 as to the method by 
which it may be terminated. Article 31 provides for the nonimpo- 
sition of a Canadian export duty on lumber cut in certain districts 
in Maine and floated to the sea by the St. Johns River, and contains 
no limitation as to the time and no provision for its abrogation. 
Article 32 extended to Newfoimdland, in the event of proper legis- 
lation by that province, the fishery provisions of articles 18 to 25, 
and was, of course, abrogated with those articles. Article 33, 
which provides a method for the abrogation of certain articles 
of the treaty, I will presently quote at length. The remaining 
articles of the treaty, namely, 35 to 42, provide for the arbitration 
of the dispute as to the \'ancouver Island and De Haro Channel 
boundary, and have been fully executed. Articles 18, 19, 21, 28, 
29, and 30 each contain a provision limiting their life to "the tenn 
of years mentioned in article 33 of this treaty." The articles 
between 18 and 30, inclusive, which do not contain this provision, 
are those that provide for an arbitration of the fishery question, 
which were, of course, terminable by the completion of the arbi- 
tration, article 26 relating to the navigation of the St. Lawrence 
and other rivers, and article 27 relating to the use of the canals. 
The question whether article 29 is still in force depends, so far as 
the construction of the treaty goes, upon the meaning of the words 
"the term of years mentioned in article t,^)-^'' That article is as 
follows: 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjainin Harrison. 205 

The foregoing Articles xvili to xxv, inclusive, and Article xxx of this treaty shall 
take effect as soon as the laws required to carry them into operation shall have been 
passed by the Imperial Parliament of (ire. it Britain, by the Parli.inunt of Canada, and 
by the legislature of Prince Edward's Island on the one hand, and by the Congress of 
the United States on the other. Such assent having been given, the said articles shall 
remain in force for the period of ten years from the date at which tlicy may come into 
operation; and further until the expiration of two years after either of llie high con- 
tracting parties shall have given notice to the other of its wish to terminate the same; 
each of the high contracting parties being at liberty to give such notice to the other at 
the entl of the sai(.l period of ten years or at an\' time afterward. 

The question of construction here presented is, whether the refer- 
ence to "the term of years mentioned in article 33" is to be con- 
strued as limiting the continuance of article 29 to the duration of 
articles 18 to 25 and 30, in such a way that the abrogation of those 
articles necessarih' carried with it the other articles of the treat^■ 
which contained the reference to article ;i^;i^ already quoted, or 
whether the reference to this "term of years" in articles 28 and 
29 was intended to provide a method of abrogation after ten years 
from the time of their taking effect, viz, a notice of two years of 
an intention to abrogate. The language of the treaty, considered 
alone, might support the conclusion that article },}, was intended to 
provide a uniform method of abrogation for certain other articles. 
It will be noticed that the treaty does not expressly call for legis- 
lation to put article 29 into operation. Senator Edmunds, in the 
discussion in the Senate of the joint resolution terminating the 
fisheries article, took the view that no legislation was necessarv. 
It seems to me, however, that such legislation was necessar\-, and 
Congress acted upon this view in the law of 1873, to which refer- 
ence will presently be made. An examination of the discussion 
between the plenipotentiaries who framed the treaty furnishes this 
entry which President Cle\-eland thought to be conclusive of the 
intention of the plenipotentiaries, viz: 

The tr.msit question was discussed aird it was agreed that anv settlement that might 
be made should include a reciprocal arrangement in that respect for the jieriod for 
which the fishery articles should be in force. 

On March i, 1S73, Congress passed an act entitled "An act to 
carry into effect the provisions of the treaty between the ITnited 
States and Great Britain, signed in the city of Washington the 8th 
day of May, 1871, relating to the fisheries." The act consisted of 
five sections, the first and .second of which provided for carrying 
into effect the provisions of the treaty "relating to the fisheries." 
The fourth section provided for carr\ing into effect section 30 of 
the treaty. The.se three sections furnished the legislation contem- 
plated by article 2,^^ of the treaty to carry into effect articles 18 to 



2o6 liiblic Papers and Addresses nf Ihiijaiiiin Harrisuii. 

25 and 30. The act, however, went further, as will be seen by an 
examination of section 3, which is as follows: 

That from the diia- of the Picsidt-nt's proclamation authorized by the first section of 
this act, and so long as the articles eighteenth to twenty-fifth, inclusive, and article 
thirtieth of said treaty, shall remain in force, according to the terms and conditions of 
article thirty-third of said treaty, all goods, wares or merchandise arriving at the ports 
of New York, Boston, and Portland, and any other ports in the United States which 
have been, or may, from time to time, be specially designated by the President of the 
United States and destined for Her Britannic Majesty's possessions in North America, 
may be entered at the proper custom-house and conve}'ed in transit, without the payment 
of duties, through the territory of the United States, under such rules, regulations, 
and conditions for the protection of the revenue as the Secretary of the Treasury may. 
from time to time, prescribe; and, under like rules, regulations, and conditions, 
goods, wares, or merchandise, may be conveyed in transit, without the payment of 
duties, for such possessions, through the territory of the United States, for export from 
the said ports in the United States. 

It will be noticed that provision is here made for carrying into 
effect the two provisions of article 29, which I have already char- 
acterized as the concessions on the part of the United States, 
namely, the passage, duty free, from certain designated ports of the 
United States to Canada of imported goods and the passage, duty 
free, to ports of the United States of Canadian goods for export. 
Section 3 of the law of 1873, which I have quoted, however, con- 
tains a legislative construction of article 29 of the treaty, in the 
limitation that the provisions therein contained as to the transit of 
goods should continue in force only so long as articles 18 to 25, 
inclusive, and 30 of the treaty should remain in force. 

On March 3, 1883, Congress passed a joint resolution entitled as 
follows: "Joint resolution providing for the termination of articles 
numbered 18 to 25, inclusive, and article numbered 30 of the treaty 
between the United States and Her Britannic Majesty, concluded 
at Washington May 8, 1871." 

The resolution provided for the giving of notice of the abrogation 
of the articles of the treaty named in the title and of no others. 
Section 3 contained the following provision: 

And the act of Congress approved March i, anno Domini, 1873, entitled etc., so far 
as it relates to the articles of said treaty so to be terminated, shall be and stand 
repealed and of no force on and after the time of the expiration of said two years. 

An examination of the debates at the time of the passage of this 
joint resolution very clearly shows that Congress made an attempt 
to save article 29 of the treaty and section 3 of the act of 1873. In 
the Senate, on the 29th of February, 1883, the resolution being 
inider consideration, several Senators, including Mr. Edmunds, the 
chairman of the Judiciary Committee, expressed the opinion that 
article 29 would not be affected by the abrogation of articles 18 to 



Public Papers and ^Iddrcsscs of Boijaniiii Harrison. 207 

25 and 30, and an amendment was made to the resolution with a 
view to leave section 3 of the act of 1873 in force. The same view 
was taken in the debates in the House. 

The subject a.;ain came before Congress in connection with the 
consideration of a bill (S. 3173) to authorize the President of the 
United States to protect and defend tlie rights of American fishing 
vessels, American fishermen, Ameiic.ui trading and other vessels, 
in certain cases, and for other purposes.'' 

In the course of the debate upon the bill in the Senate, January 
24, 1887, and in thj House February 23, following, the prevailing 
opinion was, though not without some dissent, that article 29 was 
still in force. 

On the 6th day of July, 18S7, in response to an iuquir\- b\- the 
Secretary of the Treasury-, Mr. Bayard wrote a letter, a copy of 
which accompanies this message, in which he expresses the opinion 
that article 29 of the treaty was unaffected by the abrogation of the 
fisheries articles and was still in force. In August, 1888, however, 
Mr. Cleveland, in a message to Congress, expressed his opinion of 
the question in the following language. 

In any event, and wliclher the law of 1S73 construes the treaty or governs it, section 
2Q of such treaty, 1 have no doubt, terminated with the proceedings taken by our 
Government to terminate articles iS to 25 inclusive, and article 30 of the treaty. 
■* * * If by an^' language used in the joint resolution it was intended to relieve 
section 3 of the act of 1S73, emljodying article 29 (if the treaty, from its own limitations 
or to save the article itself, I am entirely satisfied that the intention miscarried. 

I have asked the opinion of the Attorney-General upon this 
question, and his answer accompanies this message. He is of the 
opinion that article 29 has been abrogated. 

It should be added that the United States has continuously, 
through the Treasury Department, conducted our trade intercour.se 
with Canada as if article 29 of the treaty and section 3 of the act of 
1873 remained in force, and that Canada has continued to yield in 
practice the concessions made by her in that article. No change in 
our Treasury methods was made following Mr. Cleveland's message 
from which I have quoted. I am inclined to think that, using the 
aids which the ]:irotocol and the nearly contemporaneous legislation 
by Congress in the act of 1873 furnish in construing the treat)', the 
better opinion is that article 29 of the treaty is no longer operative. 
The enactment of section 3 of the act of 1873 was a clear declara- 
tion that legislation was necessary to put article 29of the treaty into 
operation, and that under the treaty our obligation to provide such 
legislation terminated whenever articles 18 to 25 and 30 should be 
abrogated. This legislation was accejited by Great Britain as a 



2o8 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

compliance with our obligations under the treaty. No objection 
was made that our statute treated article 29 as having force only so 
long as the other articles named were in force. 

But the question whether article 29 is in force has less practical 
importance than has been supposed; for it does not, if in force, place 
any restraints upon the United States as to the method of dealing 
with imported merchandise destined for the United States arriving 
at a Canadian port for transportation to the United States, or of 
merchandise passing through Canadian territory from one place in 
the United States to another. It would be no infraction, either of 
the letter or of the spirit of the treaty, if we should stop, unload, 
and carefully inspect every vehicle arriving at our border with such 
merchandise. Nor, on the other hand, would Canada violate her 
obligations under the treaty by a like treatment of merchandise 
imported through the port of New York on its arrival in Canada. 
Neither Government has placed itself under an}' restraint as to 
merchandise intended for the use of its own people when such 
merchandise comes within its own territory. The question, there- 
fore, as to how we shall deal with merchandise imported by our own 
people through a Canadian port, and with merchandise passing from 
one place in the United States to another through Canadian terri- 
tory, is wholly one of domestic polic\' and law. 

I turn now to consider the legislation of Congress upon this 
subject, upon which, as it seems to me, the duties of the Treasury 
and the rights of our people as to those phases of the transportation 
question to which I have just alluded wholly depend. Sections 
3005 and 3006 of the Revised Statutes, which are taken from the 
act of July 28, 1866, entitled "An act to protect the revenue, and 
for other purposes" (14 Stat. L., 328), are as follows: 

Sec. 3005. All merchandise arriving at the ports of New York, Boston, Portland 
in Maine, or any other port specially designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, and 
destined for places in the adjacent British provinces, or arriving at the port of (Point 
Isabel) (Brownville) in Texas, or any other port specially designated by the Secretary 
of the Treasury, and destined for places in the Republic of Mexico, may be entered at 
the custom-house, and conveyed, in transit, through the territory of the United States, 
without the payment of duties, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury 
may prescribe. 

Sec. 3006. Imported merchandise in bond, or duty paid, and products or manufac- 
tures of the United States, may, with the consent of the proper authorities of the British 
provinces or Republic of Mexico, be transported from one port in the United States to 
another port therein, over the territory of such provinces or Republic, by such routes, 
and under such rules, regulations and conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury may 
prescribe, and the merchandise so transported shall, upon arrival in the United States 
from such provinces or Republic, be treated in regard to the liability to or exemption 
from duty, or tax, as if the transportation had taken place entirely within the limits of 
the United States. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beii/aimii Harrison. 209 

Section 3102 of tlie Revised Statutes is also related to this subject 
and is as follows: 

To avoid the inspection at the first port of arrival, the owner, agent, master, or con- 
ductor of any such vessel, car, or other vehicle, or owner, agent, or other person having 
charge of any such merchandise, baggage, effects, or other articles, may apply to any 
officer of the United States duly authorized to act in the premises, to seal or close the 
same, under and according to the regulations hereinafter authorized, previous to their 
importation into the United States; which officer shall seal or close the same accord- 
ingly; whereupon the same may proceed to their port of destination without further 
inspection. Every such vessel, car, or other vehicle, shall proceed, without unneces- 
sary delay, to the port of its destination, as named in the manifest of its cargo, freight, 
or contents, and be there inspected. Nothing contained in this section shall be con- 
strued to exempt such vessel, car, or vehicle, or its contents, from such examination 
as may be necessary and proper to prevent frauds upon the revenue and violations of 
this title. 

It will be noticed that section 3005 does not provide for the transit 
of merchandise through our territory from Canada to ports of the 
United States for export, nor have I been able to iind any other law 
now in force that does provide for such transit. It would seem, 
therefore, that, as to this concession made by the United States in 
article 29 of the treaty, legislation to put it into force was necessar>- 
and that there is no such legislation, unless section 3 of the act of 
1873 was saved h\ the amendment to the joint resolution abrogating 
the fisheries articles and article 30, limiting the repeal to so much 
of said act as "relates to the articles of said treaty so to be termi- 
nated." The joint resolution certainly did not repeal section 3, 
and if that section has ceased to be operative it is by virtue of the 
limitation contained in the section itself. I think it did expire by 
its own express limitation. 

The cpiestion has presented itself whether section 3 of the act of 
1873 (R. S. 2S66) repealed by implication that section of the act 
of July, 1866, which is now section 3005 of the Rcvi.sed Statutes; 
but I am of the opinion that the last-named section was not repealed. 
Section 3 of the act of 1873 was expressly intended to carry into 
effect a treaty obligation and was limited as to time. It contained 
no express repeal of the act of 1866; and, while its provisions were 
broader than the last-named act, they were not inconsistent, save 
in the provision that while the act of 1873 was in force the additional 
ports in the United States at which Canadian goods might be 
received were to be designated by the President, whereas under the 
act of 1866 the designation was by the Secretary of the Treasury. 
The last-named act related also to intercourse with Mexico and I 
think was unaffected by the act of 1S73. 

It will be seen that the law permits merchandi.se arriving at the 
ports of New York, Boston, Portland in Maine, and at other ports 
15151 11 



2IO Public Papers and Addresses of Ben/aiiiiii Harrison. 

specially designated \>\ the Secretary of the Treasury, for places in 
the adjacent British provinces, to be entered at the custom-house 
of the port where it is landed and conveyed through the territory 
of the United States without the payment of duty, under regula- 
tions to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. As these 
goods come immediately and fully under the inspection of our 
customs officers at the principal ports, are entered there and remain 
until they cross our border into Canada, fully under our supervision, 
there is little or no danger involved to our revenue. The regula- 
tions prescribed by the Treasur)' for conducting this traffic seem 
to me to be adequate. 

As to merchandise imported into the United States from a con- 
tiguous foreign country, it is provided by section 3102 that the 
inspection at the first port of arrival in the United States may be 
avoided if the \ehicle in which the same arrives has been sealed or 
closed by some officer of the United vStates duly authorized at some 
point in the contiguous country. When the act of closing or seal- 
ing conformably to the regulations of the Treasury has been effected 
the car or other vehicle may proceed withotit unnecessary delay to 
the port of its destination, as named in the manifest of its cargo, 
freight or contents, and be there inspected. This jjrivilege, how- 
ever, is subject to such examination at the point of entry to the 
United States as may be necessary to prevent fraud. It is important 
to be noticed that the merchandise to which this section refers is 
described in section 3100 as merchandise, etc., "imported into the 
United States from any contiguous foreign country. " A practice 
has grown up, and a traffic of considerable dimensions under it, 
of allowing merchandise from China and Japan, purchased and 
imported from those countries by our own citizens, and landed at 
ports in the Dominion of Canada to be there loaded into cars wdiich, 
being sealed by an officer of the United States or some one supposed 
to rejiresent him, are forwarded through the territory of Canada 
across the entire continent, and allowed to cross our frontier without 
other inspection than an examination of the seals. The real fact is 
tliat the American consul can not and does not either compare the 
manifest with the contents of the cars or attach the seals. The 
agents of the transportation companies are furnished by the consul 
with the seals and place them upon the cars. The practice of seal- 
ing such merchandise, notwithstanding it has been allowed by the 
Treasury for some years, I think is unauthorized. Such merchan- 
dise is not imported from a " contiguous country," but from China 
or Japan. 

It has never become subject to the Canadian revenue laws as an 



Ptiblic Papers and Addresses of Bcujauiiii Harrison. 211 

importation from Japan to Canada, but by force of the treaty or by 
the courtesy of that Government has been treated as subject to the 
revenue laws of the United States from the time of landing at the 
Canadian port. Our Treasury seal has been placed upon it; Canada 
only gives it passage. It is no more an importation from Canada 
than is a train load of wheat that starts from Detroit and is trans- 
ported through Canada to another port of the United States. 
Section 3102 was enacted in 1S64, two years before sections 3005 
and 3006, and could not have had reference to the later methods of 
importing merchandise through one country to the other. 

The practice to which I have referred not only equalizes the 
advantages of Canadian seaports with our own in the importation 
of goods for our domestic consumption, but makes the Canadian 
ports favored ports of entry. The detentions under this system at 
the Canadian ports are less than when the merchandise is landed at 
a port of the United States to be forwarded in bond to another port 
therein. Full effect should be given to section 3102 as to merchan- 
dise imported into the United States from Canada, so far as the 
appropriations enable the Treasury- to provide the officers to do the 
work of closing and sealing. It will, however, be required that all 
this kind of work be done, and carefully done, by an officer of the 
United vStates, and that the duty shall in no case be delegated to 
the employes of the transportation companies. The considerations 
that it is quite doubtful whether a fraud committed in Canada by 
one of our agents upon our revenue would be punishable jn our 
courts, and that such a fraud committed by anyone else certainly 
would not be, and tliat, even if such acts are made penal by our 
statutes, the criminal would be secure against extradition seem to 
me to be conclusive against the policy of attempting to maintain 
such revenue agents in Canadian territory. 

I come now to discuss another element of this international traffic, 
namely, the transportation of merchandise from one "port" in the 
United States to another "port" therein, over the territory of 
Canada. This traffic is enormous in its dimensions and very great 
interests have grown up in the United States in connection with it. 
Section 3006 authorizes this traffic, subject to "such rules, regula- 
tions and conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe." 
But the important limitation is from "port" to "port." Section 
3007 of the Revised Statutes, which exempts sealed cars from certain 
fees, preserves the terms of the preceding section, from "port" to 
"port." It seems to me that sections 3006 and 3007 contemplate 
the delivery of sealed cars at a "port " of the United States, there 
to be examined by a revenue officer, and their contents verified. 



212 Public Papers and Addresses of Bciijaiiiin Harrison. 

But in practice the car, if the seal is found at the border to be intact, 
is passed to places not "ports " and is opened and unloaded by the 
consignee, no officer being present. The bill or manifest accompa- 
nying the merchandise and the unbroken seal on the car may furnish 
prima facie evidence that the amount and kind of merchandise named 
in the manifest and said to be contained in the car came from a port 
in the United States, but certainly it was not intended that the 
merchandise should go to the owner without an official ascertain- 
ment of the correspondence between the bill and the actual contents 
of the car. 

I pass at this point any discussion of the question whether as a 
national policy this traffic should be promoted. It is enough to say 
that as the law stands it is authorized between "ports" of the 
United States, and that the niles, regulations, and conditions to be 
prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury must not, in view of 
this declaration of the legislative will, be further restrictive of the 
traffic than may reasonably be necessary to protect the revenues of 
the United States. In determining whether further regulations are 
reasonably necessary to prevent frauds against our revenue it is not 
conclusive, at least, to say that frauds against the revenue under 
the existing system have not been discovered. The question is, 
are the regulations such as to provide proj^er safeguards against 
fraud, or are they such as to make fraud eas)- to those who have the 
disposition to commit it? If all cars carrying this merchandise are 
carefully and honestly inspected at the point of lading and are 
securely closed during the transit the revenue would be secure, for 
the proper lading of these cars is not subject to duty. Frauds can 
only be perpetrated by introducing products not subject to free 
entry. In practice, the seals and locks provided by the Treasury 
Department do not give security that these cars in the long transit 
in which they are free from observation by officers of the revenue 
may not be opened and dutiable merchandise added. The duplica- 
tion of the seals used, composed of wire and lead, is easy, and the 
opening of locks scarcely less .so. If, however, the cars, when they 
arrive in the United States, either at the point where our boundary 
is crossed or at some other port of the United States, were subject 
to the inspection of a revenue officer before delivery to the consignee 
or owner, the manifest could be verified. The inspection, however, 
is now limited to an examination of the lock or seal. The car is 
not weighed or opened to verify its contents. I do not think this 
is an adequate protection against the surreptitious introduction into 
the cars, while on foreign territory, of dutiable articles. It will be 
seen by the letter of the Secretary of the Treasury that grain, tlie 
product of the United States, is now largely transported in American 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beujaniiu Harrison. 213 

vessels to Canadian lake ports, and after being there placed in 
elevators is sent east in cars sealed b}- agents of the Treasnry. 

No observation is taken of this grain nntil its arrival in Canada 
where only the anionnt and grade are noted by a Treasnry agent, 
and a like anionnt in grade and qnantity ( thongh it may be not the 
identical grain) is by snch agent billed and sealed in cars for carriage 
to the United States. I do not find any statnte anthorizing this 
practice. Section 3006, which authorizes this interstate trade 
through Canada, is limited to merchandise passing from "port" to 
"port" of the United States, and plainly means that such merchan- 
dise shall be taken up by our revenue officers at a " port" of the 
United States as a starting point. 

The following are the conclusions at which I have arrived: 

First. That article 29 of the treaty of Washington has been 
abrogated. 

Second. That even if this article were in force there is no law in 
force to execute it. 

Third. That when in force the treaty imposed no obligation upon 
the United States to use the concessions as to transit made by 
Canada, and no limitation upon the powers of the United States in 
dealing with merchandise imported for the use of our citizens 
through Canadian ports or passing from one place in the United 
States to another through Canada, upon the arrival of such 
merchandi.se at our border. 

Fourth. That, therefore, treaty or no treaty, the question of 
.sealino- cars containing: such merchandise and the treatment of such 
sealed cars when they cross our border is, and always has been, one 
to be settled by our laws according to our convenience and our 
interests as we may see them. 

Fifth. That the law authorizing the sealing of cars in Canada, 
containing foreign merchandise imported from a contiguous coun- 
tr\', does not apply to merchandise imported by our own people from 
countries not contiguous and carried through Canada for delivery to 
such owners. 

Sixth. That the law did not contemplate the passing of sealed 
cars to anyplace not a "port," nor the delivery of such cars to the 
owner or consignee to be opened by him without the supervision of 
a revenue officer. 

Seventh. That such a practice is inconsistent with the safety of 
the revenue. 

The statutes relating to the transportation of merchandise between 
the United States and the British Possessions should be the suliject 
of revision. The Treasury regulations have given to these laws a 
construction and a scope that I do not think was contemplated by 



214 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

Congress. A policy adapted to the new conditions growing in part 
out of the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railroad should 
be declared, and the business placed upon a basis more just to our 
people and to our transportation companies. If we continue the 
policy of supervising rates and requiring that they shall be equal 
and reasonable upon the railroads of the United States, we cannot 
in fairness at the same time give these unusual facilities for compe- 
tition to Canadian roads that are free to pursue the practices as to cut 
rates and favored rates that we condemn and punish if practiced by 
our own railroads. 

I regret that circumstances prevented an earlier examination by 
me of these questions, but submit now these views in the hope that 
they may lead to a revision of the laws upon a safer and just basis. 

I transmit herewith the correspondence between the Secretary of 
the Treasury and the Attorney-General upon some phases of this 
question. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

February 2, i8gj. 



ANNEXATION OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 

To the Senate : 

I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a treaty of 
annexation concluded on the 14th day of February, 1893, between 
John W. Foster, Secretary of State, who was duly empowered to 
act in that behalf on the part of the United States, and Lorrin A. 
Thurston, W. R. Castle, W. C. Wilder, C. L. Carter, and Joseph 
Marsden, the commissioners on the part of the Government of the 
Hawaiian Islands. The provisional treaty, it will be obser\'ed, does 
not attempt to deal in detail with the questions that grow out of 
the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States. The 
commissioners representing the Hawaiian Government have con. 
sented to leave to the future and to tlie just and benevolent purposes 
of the United States the adjustment of all such questions. 

I do not deem it necessary to discuss at any length the conditions 
which have resulted in this decisive action. It has been the policy 
of the administration not only to respect but to encourage the 
continuance of an independent government in the Hawaiian Islands 
so long as it afforded suitable guaranties for the protection of life 
and property, and maintained a stability and strength that gave 
adequate security against the domination of any other power. The 
moral support of this Government has continually manifested it.self 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beii/aiiiiii Harrison. 215 

in the most frieiKllydiploinaticrelatioiis and in many acts of courtesy 
to the Hawaiian rulers. 

Tlie overthrow of the monarchy was not iu any wav promoted 
by this Government, l)ut had its origin in what seems to have been 
a reactionary and revohitionary policy on the part of Queen 
Liliuokalani which put in serious peril not onlv the large and 
preponderating interests of the United States in the islands, but all 
foreign interests, and indeed the decent administration of civil 
affairs and the peace of the islands. It is quite evident that the 
monarchy had become effete and the Queen's government so weak 
and inadequate as to be the prey of designing and unscrupulous 
persons. The restoration of Queen Liliuokalani to her throne is 
undesirable, if not impos-ible, and unless actively supported by the 
United States would be accompanied by serious disaster and the 
disorganization of all business interests. The influence and interest 
of the United States in the islands must be increased and not 
diminished. 

Only two courses are now open — one the establishment of a pro- 
tectorate by the United States, and the other annexation full and 
complete. I think the latter course, which has been adopted in the 
treaty, will be highly promotive of the best interests of the Hawaiian 
people, and is the only one that will adequateh- secure the interests 
of the United States. These interests are not wholly selfish. It is 
essential that none of the other great powers shall secure these 
islands. Such a possession would not consist with our safety and 
with the peace of the world. This view of the situation is so 
apparent and conclusive that no protest has been heard from any 
government against proceedings looking to annexation. Every 
foreign representative at Honolulu promptly acknowledged the 
Provisional Government, and I think there is a general concurrence 
in the opinion that the deposed Queen ought not be restored. 

Prompt action upon this treaty is very desirable. If it meets the 
approval of the Senate, peace and good order will be secured in the 
islands under existing laws until such time as Congress can provide 
by legislation a permanent form of government for the islands. Tliis 
legislation should be, and I do not doubt will be, not only just to 
the natives and all other residents and citizens of the islands, but 
should be characterized by great liberality and a high regard to the 
rights of all people and of all foreigners domiciled there. The 
correspondence which accompanies the treaty will put the Senate 
in possession of all the facts known to the Executive. 

Benj. H.A.RRISON. 
Executive M.vnsion, 

Washington^ Feb. 7^5, iS(^j. 



2i6 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 
VETO MESSAGES. 

THE DEBT OF OGDEN, UTAH. 

To the House of Representatives: 

I return herewith without my approval the bill (H. R. 7170) 
"to authorize the city of Ogden, Utah, to assume an increased 
indebtedness. ' ' 

The purpose and effect of this bill is to relieve the city of Ogden 
from the limitation imposed by the act of July 30, 1886, upon all 
municipal corporations in the Territories as to the indebtedness 
which they may lawfully contract. The general law fixes the limit 
of 4 per cent upon the last assessment for taxation ; this bill extends 
the limit as to the city of Ogden to 8 per cent. The purposes for 
which this legislation is asked are not peculiar or exceptional. They 
relate to schools, street improvements, and to sewerage, and are 
common to every prosperous and growing town and city. If the 
argument by which this measure is supported is adopted, the con- 
clusion should be a repeal or modification of the general law. But 
in my opinion the limitation imposed by the act of 1886 is wise and 
wholesome and should not be relaxed. 

The report of the governor of Utah for 1889 states the population 
of Ogdeu to be 15,000, the valuation for taxation $7,000,000, and 
the existing indebtedness $100,000. It will be noticed that under 
the existing limit the city has power to increase its indebtedness 
$180,000, which would seem to be enough to make a good beginning 
in the construction of sewers, while the cost of street improvements 
is usually met in large part by direct assessment upon the property 
benefited. 

It is assumed in the report of the House committee that any city 

in the States similarly situated "would have the making of the 

needed improvements within its own power," while the fact is that 

almost all of our States have, either by their constitutions or statutes, 

limited the power to municipal corporations to incur indebtedness, 

and the limit is generally lower than that fixed by the act regulating 

this matter in the Territories. A large city debt retards growth and 

in the end defeats the purpose of those who think by mortgaging 

the future to attract population and property. I do not doubt that 

the citizens of Ogden will ultimately realize that the creation of a 

municipal debt of over a half million dollars by a city of 15,000 

population — being about $37 per capita — is unwise. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Mansion, 

April 26, i8go. 



Public Papi-rs aiic/ Addresses of Bciijainin Harrison. 217 

PUBLIC BUILDING AT DALLAS, TEXAS. 

I return witliout my approval the bill (H. R. 848) "to authorize 
the construction of an addition to the building in Dallas, Texas." 

The bill authorizes the construction of a wing or addition to the 
present public building at a cost of $200,000. I find that the bill as 
originally introduced by the member representing the Congre.ssional 
district in which Dallas is situated fixed $100,000 as the limit of the 
proposed expenditure; and it was so reported from the Committee 
on Public Buildings and Grounds, after conferring with the Super- 
vising Architect of the Treasury. A bill of the same tenor was 
introduced in the Senate by one of the vSenators from the State 
fixing the same limit of expenditure. 

The public building at Dallas for which a first appropriation of 
$75,000 was made in 1882, subsequently increased to $125,000, was 
only completed in 18S9. It is probably inadequate now to the 
convenient transaction of business, chiefly in that part assigned to 
the Post-Office Department. The material and architectural style 
of any addition is fi.xed by the present building and its ground area 
by the available, unoccupied space, as no provision is made for bu\-- 
ing additional ground. The present building is 85 by 56 feet, and 
Mr. John S. Witwer, the postmaster, and the custodian of the build- 
ing, writing to the Supervising Architect, advises that to meet the 
present and prospective needs of the Government, an addition at 
least two-thirds as large as the present building .should be provided. 
It will be seen from the following extract from a letter of the Super- 
vising Architect to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Public 
Buildings and Grounds, dated February 17, 1890, that a building 
larger than that suggested can be erected within the limit of $100,000. 
He says: 

From computations m.ide in tliis otTicc based upon data received, it is found tliat an 
extension or wing about 40 by S5 feet in dimensions, three stories hifrh with basement, 
giving 3,400 square feet in addition to the 4,760 square feet of the first-floor area of the 
building, of fireproof construction, can be erected on the present site witliin the limit 
of cost proposed by said bill, viz, $100,000. 

It may be possible that an expenditure of $325,000 for a public 
building at Dallas, if the questions of site, material, and architecture 
were all undetermined, could be defended, but under existing condi- 
tions I do not see how an appropriation of $200,000 can be justified, 
when one-half that smn is plainly adequate to such relief as the 
present site allows. 

The legislation for the erection of public buildings has not 
proceeded, so far as I can trace it, upon any general rules. Neither 
population nor the extent of the public business transacted has 



2i8 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

always indicated the points where public buildings should first be 
built, or the cost of the structures. It can not be expected that, in 
the absence of some general law, the coniuiittees of Congress having 
charge of such matters will proceed in their recommendations upon 
strict or equal lines. The bills are individual, and if comparisons 
are attempted the necessary element of probable future growth is 
made to cover all apparent inequalities. It will be admitted, I am 
sure, that only a public need should suggest the expenditure of the 
public money, and that, if all such needs can not be at once supplied, 
the most general and urgent should have the preference. 

I am not unfriendly to a liberal annual expenditure for the erection 
of public buildings, where the safe and convenient transaction of the 
public business demand it, and the state of the revenues will permit. 
It would be wiser, in my opinion, to build more and less costly 
houses, and to fix, by general law, the amount of the annual expen- 
diture for this purpose, and some order of preference between the 
cities asking for public buildings. 

But in view of the pending legislation looking to a very large 
reduction of our revenues, and of the urgency and necessity of a 
large increase in our expenditures in certain directions, I am of the 
opinion that appropriations for the erection of public buildings and 
all kindred expenditures should be kept at the minimum until the 
effect of other probable legislation can be accurately measured. 

The erection of a public building is largely a matter of local 
interest and convenience, while expenditures for enlarged relief and 
recognition to the soldiers and sailors of the war for the preservation 
of the Union, or necessary coast defenses, and for the extension of 
our commerce with other American States are of universal interest, 
and involve considerations, not of convenience, but of justice, honor, 
safety, and general prosperity. 

Benj. H.\rrison. 

ExEcrrrv^K Mansion, 

April ^9, iSgo. 



PUBLIC BUILDING AT HUDSON, N. Y. 

To the Senate of the United States: 

I return without my approval the bill (S. 1306) "for the erection 
of a public building at Hudson, New York." Hudson, from the 
best information attainable, is a city of only a little more than 
10,000 population. If the postal receipts are a fair indication of 
the growth of the city, it has not been rapid, as they only increased 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaiinii Harrison. 219 

about $4,000 in ten years. The gross postal receipts for the year 
1888 were but $14,809, and the office force consists of three clerks 
and five carriers. There are no other Government offices at Hudson 
entitled, under the law, to offices or to an allowance for rent, unless 
it be a deputy collector of iuternsl revenue. 

It appears from the bill, and the correspondence with the Super- 
vising Architect, that it is proposed to erect a two-story building 
with fireproof vaults, heating and ventilating apparatus and 
elevators, 40 by 80 feet in dimensions. The ground-floor area of 
3,200 feet, to be devoted to the post-office, would give 400 square 
feet to each of the present employes. The second story and the 
basement, each having the same area, will be absolutely tenantless, 
unless authority is given by law to the custodian to rent the rooms 
to unofficial tenants. It seems to me to be very clear that the public 
needs do not suggest or justify such an expenditure as is contem- 
plated by this bill. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

JiDie /, iSgo. 



PUBLIC BUILDING AT TUSCALOOSA, ALA. 

To fhe House of Representatives: 

I return without my approval the bill (H. R. 7175) "to provide 
for the purchase of a site, and the erection of a public building 
thereon, at Tuscaloosa, in the State of Alabama. " 

Judged by its postal revenues and by the force employed in the 
office the post-office at Tuscaloosa is not an important one. It has 
one clerk, at a salary of $450, and no carriers. The report of the 
Postmaster-General shows that the gross receipts for the year 1888 
were $6,379, ^""^ the net revenue less than $4,000. The annual 
receipts have only increased about $3,000 in ten years. The rent 
now paid for a building affording 2,200 square feet of floor space 

is $275. 

A general proposition to erect public buildings at this scale ot 
expense in cities of the size of Tuscaloosa would not, I am sure, 
receive the sanction of Congress. It would involve the expenditure 
foi buildings of ten times the present net revenues of such offices, 
and in the case under consideration would involve an increased cost 
for fuel, lights, and care greater than the rent now paid for the use 
of a room of ample size. I would not insist that it nnist always be 
shown that a proposed public building would yield an interest upon 



220 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

the investment, but in the present uncertain state of the puolic 
revenues and expenditures, resulting from pending and probable 
legislation, there is, in my opinion, an absolute necessity that 
expenditures for public buildings should be limited to cases where 
the public needs are very evident and very imperative. It is clear 
that this is not such a case. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Mansion, 

Jnnc 12, rSgo. 



THE UNCOMPAHGRE RESERVATION. 

To the Senate of the United States : 

I return without my approval the bill {S. 1762) "to change the 
boundaries of the Uncompahgre Reservation. ' ' 

The bill proposes to separate from the Ute Indian Reservation in 
Utah and restore to the public domain two ranges of townships 
along the east side of the reservation and bordering the Colorado 
State line. It is said that these lands are wholly worthless to the 
Indians for cultivation or for grazing purposes, and it must follow, 
I think, that they are equally worthless for such purposes to white 
men. 

The object, then, of this legislation is to be sought not in any 
public demand for these lands for the use of settlers — ^for if they 
are susceptible of that use, the Indians have a clear equit}- to take 
allotments upon them — but in that part of the bill which confirms 
the mineral entries, or entries for mineral uses, which have been 
unlawfully made " or attempted to be made on said lands." It is 
evidently a private and not a public end that is to be promoted. 
It does not follow, of course, that this private end may not be 
wholly meritorious, and the relief sought on behalf of these persons 
altogether just and proper. The facts, as I am advised, are that 
upon these lands there are veins or beds of asphaltum or Gilsonite, 
supposed to be of very great value. 

Entries have been made in that vicinity, but upon public lands, 
which lands have been resold for very large amounts. It is not 
important, perhaps, that the United States should in parting with 
these lands realize their value, but it is essential, I think, that 
favoritism should have no part in connection with the sales. The 
bill confirms all attempted entries of these mineral lands at the 
price of $20 per acre (a price that is suggestive of something 
unusual) without requiring evidence of the expenditure of any 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin /farrison. 22 1 

money upon the claim, or even proof that the chiimant was the 
discoverer of the deposits. 

The bill requires "good faith," but it will be next to impossible 
for the officers of the Interior Department to show actual knowledge 
on the part of the claimant of the lines of the reservation. The 
case will practicably be, as to this matter, in the hands of the 
claimant. But why should good faith at the moment of attempting 
the entry without any requirement of expenditure, and followed, it 
may be, within twenty-four hours by actual notice that he was upon 
a reservation, give an advantage in the sale of these lands that 
may represent a very large sum of money ? 

In the second place, I do not think it wise, without notice even 
to the Indians, to segregate these lands from their reservation. It 
is true, I think, that they hold these lands by an Executive order, 
with a contract right to take allotnients upon them, and that the 
lands in question are not likely to be sought as an allotment by any 
Indian. But the Indians have been placed on this reservation and 
its boundaries explained to them, and to take these lands in this 
manner is calculated to excite their distrust and fears, and possibly 
to create serious trouble. 

Benj. Harrlson. 

Executive Mansion, 

June ij, iSgo. 



MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA, BONDS. 

To ihc House of Reprcseniatii'es: 

I return without my approval the bill (H. R. 3934) "to authorize 
the board of supervi.sors of Maricopa County, i\rizona, to issue 
certain bonds in aid of the construction of a certain railroad." 

This bill proposes to confer authority upon the supervisors of the 
county of Maricopa to issue count\- bonds at the rate of $4,000 per 
mile in aid of a railroad to be constructed from Phcenix northwardly 
to the county line, a distance estimated at 50 miles, but probably 
somewhat longer. The bill seems to have passed the House of 
Representatives under an entire misapprehension of its true scope 
and effect. In the brief report submitted by the Committee on 
Territories it is said that "by the terms of the bill the county 
receives bonds in pa\-meut of the money proposed to be advanced," 
and in the course of the debate the Delegate from .-Vrizona mis- 
takenly stated in response to a request for information that the bill 
proposed a loan by the county, in exchange for which it was to 



222 Public Papers and Addresses of Boijamiii Harrison. 

receive the bonds of the railroad company. In fact, the bill does 
not provide for a loan to be secured by bonds, but for a subscription 
of stock. How far this mistake nia>- have effected the passage of 
the bill can not, of course, be known. 

The bill does not submit the question of granting this aid to a 
vote of the people of the county, but confers direct authority upon 
the supervisors to issue the bonds. It is said, however, that in 
April, 1889, an election was held to obtain the views of the people 
upon the question. It does not appear from any papers submitted 
to me who were the managers of this so-called election, what notice, 
if any was given, what qualifications on the part of voters were 
insisted upon, if any, or in what form the question was presented. 
There was no law providing for such an election. Being wholly 
voluntary, the election was, of course, under the management of 
those who favored the subsidy, and was conducted without any 
legal restraints as to the voting or certification. I have asked for a 
statement of the vote by precincts, and have been given what 
purports to be the vote at twelve points. The total affirmative vote 
given was 1,975, ^'^^ the negative 134. But of the affirmative vote 
1,543 were given at Phcenix and 188 at Tempe, a town very near 
to Phoenix. If there were no other objection to this bill I should 
deem this alone sufficient, that no provision is made for submitting 
to a vote of the people, at an election after due notice and under 
the sanction of law, the question whether this subscription shall be 
made. 

But, again, the bill proposes to suspend for this case two pro- 
visions of the act of Congress of July 30, 1886. 

First. That provision which forbids municipal corporations from 
subscribing to the stock of other corporations or loaning their credit 
to such corporations; and second, that provision which forbids any 
municipal corporation from creating a debt in excess of 4 per cent 
of its taxable property as fixed by the last assessment. The 
condition of things then existing in Arizona had not a little to do 
with the enactment by Congress of this law, intended to give to 
the people of the Territories that protection against oppressive 
municipal debts, which was secured to the people of most of the 
States by constitutional limitations. The wisdom of this legislation 
is not contested by the friends of this bill, but they claim that the 
circumstances here are so peculiar as to justify this exception. I 
do not think so. In the States, the limitation upon municipal 
indebtedness is usually placed in the constitution, in order that it 
may be inflexible. If a showing of need, gain, or advantage is to 
overcome the barrier then it is scarcelv worth while to declare a 



Public Papers and Addrcacs of Bctijainiii Harrison. 223 

limitation. Only a belief that the limit is inflexible will promote 
care and economy in administration. If this bill becomes a law 
how can Congress refuse to any count>' in any of the Territories 
the right to subscribe to the stock of a railroad company — especially 
where the subscription would not exceed the debt limit — upon a 
showing of the advantages of better and cheaper communications? 

Maricopa County is one of great extent. Its northern boundary 
is 95 miles long — its southern boundary 66 — its eastern 45 and its 
western 102. This great area is to be taxed to construct a road 
which can in the nature of things be of advantage to but a fraction 
of it. There is no unity of interest or equality of advantage. It 
may very well be that a section of these lands along the line of the 
road, and especially town lots in Phoenix, would have an added 
value much greater than the increased burden imposed, but it is 
equally clear that much property in the county will receive no 
appreciable benefit. 

The existing bonded indebtedness of Maricopa County is 
$272,000; the tax assessment of the county is about $5,000,000; and 
the population is estimated, by multiplying the vote cast in 1888 
by 6, at about 12,000. It will be seen that the bonded debt — to 
say nothing of a floating debt which is said to be small — is already 
largely in excess of the legal limit, and it is proposed to increase it 
by a subscription that will certainly involve $200,000, and possibly 
$250,000. If the bill becomes a law the bonded indebtedness will 
very closely approximate ten per cent of the assessed valuation of 
the property of the county. 

The condition of things in the county of Yavapai, lying imme- 
diately north of Maricopa, and through which this road is also to 
run, though not directly affected by this legislation, is vcr\' instruc- 
tive in this connection. 

By an act of the legislature of Arizona, passed the year before the 
act of Congress to which I have referred, Yavapai County was 
authorized to subscribe $4,000 per mile to this line of road. The 
total length of the road in the county was 147 miles, and 74 miles 
to Prescott have been constructed. The secretary of the Territory, 
in response to an inquiry, states the debt of Yavapai County at 
$563,000, and the assessment for taxation at "between $6,000,000 
and $7,000,000." There are 73 miles of road yet to be built from 
the present terminus, Prescott, to the .south line of the county, for 
which Yavapai County must make a iurther issue of bonds of 
$292,000, making a total county debt of $855,000, or above 13 per 
cent ujDon the taxable assessment (taking that at $6,500,000), and a 
per capita county debt of nearly $85, taking the population at about 



224 Ptibiic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

10,600, as stated in the report of the Senate committee. Surely no 
one will insist that the true and permanent prosperity of these 
communities will be promoted by loading their energies and their 
industries with these great debts. I feel the force of the suggestion 
that the freight charges now imposed upon the farm and orchard 
products of Maricopa County by the railroads now in operation are 
oppressive. But this bill does not afford much relief even in that 
direction. There would be but one competing point, viz. Phoenix. 
At all other points on the proposed road the people would be sub- 
ject to the exaction of just such rates as are demanded by the other 
lines. If this bill contained some effective provision to secure 
reasonable freight rates to the people who are to be taxed to build 
the road, it would go far to secure my favorable consideration for it. 
I have carefully examined the reports of the committees and 
every argument that has been submitted to me by the friends of 
the bill, but I can not bring myself to believe that the permanent 
welfare of the communities affected by it will be promoted by its 

passage. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

June 20y iSgo. 



OMAHA INDIAN LANDS. 

To the House of Representatives : 

I return herewith, without my approval, the bill (H. R. 5974) 
entitled "An act extending the time of payment to purchasers of 
land of the Omaha tribe of Indians in Nebraska, and for other pur- 
poses. ' ' 

The United States holds the legal title of these lands, which 
have been sold for the benefit of the Omaha Indians to secure the 
unpaid purchase money, the time of payment of which it is pro- 
posed by this act to extend. There is no objection that I know 
of, either on the part of the United States or of the Indians, to the 
extension of the unpaid installments due from purchasers. This 
relief is probably due to the purchasers. The bill, howe\er, 
contains the following provision: 

That all the lands the payment for which is hereby extended shall be subject to tax- 
ation in all respects by and in the State of Nebraska as if fully paid for and patents 
issued. 

Now, while it is entirely proper that the interest of the purchasers 
in these lands should share the burdens of the communities in 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 225 

which the lands are located, the title of the United .States and the 
beneficial interest of the Indians in the lands should not be sub- 
jected to sale for the delinquency of the purchasers in paying tax 
assessments levied upon the lands. The effect of the provision 
which has been quoted would, in my opinion, give to the purchaser 
at a tax sale a title superior to the lien of the Government for pur- 
chase money. The bill should have contained a proviso that onl\- 
the interest of the purchasers from the Government could be sold 
for taxes, and that the tax sale should be subject to the lien of the 
United States for unpaid purchase-money. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Mansion, 

July 9, iSgo. 



RETIREMENT OF CAPT. CHARLES STIVERS. 

To the House of Representatives : 

I return herewith, without my approval, the joint resolution (H. 
Res. 39) declaring the retirement of Capt. Charles B. .Stivers, of the 
U. S. Army, legal and valid, and that he is entitled, as such officer 
to his pay. 

Captain Stivers was dismissed the service summarily by order of 
the President on July 15, 1863. A subsequent examination into 
the causes leading to this action seems to have satisfied the Presi- 
dent that an injustice had been done to the officer, and on the nth 
day of August, 1863, an order was issued revoking the order of 
dismissal and restoring Captain Stivers to duty as an officer of 
the Army. On December 30, 1864, by a proper order from the War 
Department, after examination, Captain Stivers was placed upon 
the retired list of the Army. 

The Supreme Court has decided, in the case of the United States 
vs. Corson (114 U. S. Reports, 619): 

P^irst. That at the time of the issuance of the order of dismissal 
the President had authority, under the law, to summaril)- dismiss 
an officer, and that the effect of such an order was absolutely to 
separate the officer from the service. 

Second. That having been thus separated from the service, he 
could not be restored except by nominatiou to the Senate and its 
advice and consent to the appointment. 

Mr. Garland, as Attorney-General, gave an opinion to the Secre- 
tary of War in the case of Captain Stivers, based upon the decision 
of the Supreme Court to which I have referred, holding that Captain 
15151 15 



226 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

Stivers was not an officer on the retired list of the Army. The 
present Attorney-General, with whom I have conferred, takes the 
same view of the law. Indeed, the decision of the Supreme Court 
to which I have referred is so exactly in point that there can be no 
doubt as to the law of the case. It is undoubtedly competent for 
Congress, by act or joint resolution, to authorize the President, by 
and with the advice of the Senate, to appoint Captain Stivers to be a 
captain in the Army of the United States, and to place him upon 
the retired list. It is also perfectly competent, by suitable legisla- 
tion, for Congress to give to this officer the pay of his grade during 
the interval of time when he was improperly carried upon the Army 
lists. But the joint resolution which I herewith return does not 
attempt to deal with the case in that way. It undertakes to declare 
that the retirement of Captain Stivers was legal and valid, and that 
he always has been and is entitled to his pay as such officer. I do 
not think this is a competent method of giving the relief intended. 
The retirement, under the law as it then existed, was not legal and 
valid, as the highest judicial tribunal under the Constitution has 
declared, for the reason that Captain Stivers was not then an officer 
on the active list. That being so, it follows of course that he was 
not entitled to draw the pay of an office he did not hold. 

The relief should have taken the form usual in such cases, which 
is to authorize the appointment of the officer to a place made for 
him on the retired list. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 

September ^o., iSgo. 



RELIEF OF CHARLES P. CHOUTEAU. 

To the Senate ; 

I return witho\it my approval Senate bill No. 1857, "for the 
relief of Charles P. Chouteau, survivor of Chouteau, Harrison and 
Valle." 

This claim has been once presented to the Court of Claims and 
fully heard. This bill authorizes a rehearing. I find upon exam- 
ination that ever>- fact connected with the case, necessary to the 
determination of the question whether the claim should be appro- 
priated for, has already been found and stated by the Court of 
Claims in a published opinion. Judgment was given against the 
claimant upon the ground that a settlement had been made and a 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bciijaniin Harrison. 227 

receipt given in full. If in the opinion of Congress, this receipt, 
given under the circumstances which accompanied it, should not 
be held a bar to such further appropriation as is equitable, all the 
facts have been found that can be necessary to determine the 
question what further payment should be made to the coutractors. 
There can be no reason, as it seems to me, for a re-trial of the case 
in the Court of Claims, in the absence of any showing of newly 
discovered evidence. The result would only differ from the result 
already obtained in that under the bill which I return the court 
would enter ajudgment instead of a finding and the judgment could 
only be paid after Congressional action. 

The finding which has already been made, as I have said, is a 
complete basis for any such action as Congress may think should 
be taken in the premises. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Mansion, 

October /, [Sgo. 



GAMING IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
To the Senate: 

I return without my ajjproval the bill (S. 3830) " to prohibit book- 
making of any kind and ijool-selling in the District of Columbia 
for the purpose of gaming." 

My objection to the bill is that it does not prohibit book-making 
and pool-selling, but on the contrary expressly saves from the oper- 
ations of its prohibitions and penalties the Washington Jockey 
Club "and any other regular organizations owning race tracks no 
less than i mile in length " etc. 

If this form of gambling is to be prohibited, as I think it should 
be, the penalties should include all persons and all places. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Mansion, 

October /, /8po. 



228 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 



RELIEF OF THE PORTLAND COMPANY. 

To the Senate : 

I return to the vScnate, without my approval, the bill (S. 473) " foi 
the relief of the Portland Company, of Portland, Maine." 

This bill confers upon the Court of Claims jurisdiction to inquire 
into and determine how much certain steam machiner\-, built for 
the United States under contract and to be used in the vessels 
Afrawani and Pon/oosnc, cost the contractors over and above the con- 
tract price and an\- allowances for extra work which have been 
made; and requires the court to enter judgment in favor of the 
claimant for the excess of cost above such contract price and allow- 
ances. 

The bill differs from others which have been presented to me, and 
one of which I have approved, in that it does not make the further 
allowance to the contractors contingent upon the fl^ct that the addi- 
tional expense was the result of the acts of the Government, through 
its officers, causing delays and increased cost in the construction of 
the work. 

The bill in effect directs the court to ignore the contract entireh', 
except as payments under it are to be treated as credits, and to allow 
the contractors the cost of the work, and that without reference to 
their own negligence, or want of skill, in executing the work. 
There would seem to be no object in the Government making a 
contract for work if the contract is only to be binding upon the 
parties in the event that the contractor realizes a profit. 

I can not give my approval to the proposition applied here, which 
if allowed here should be given general application, that every con- 
tractor with the Government who, during the early days of the war 
failed to realize, by reason of increase in the cost of labor and mater- 
ials, a profit upon the contract, shall now have access to the Court of 
Claims to reco\er upon the quantum meruit the cost of the work. 

Benj. Harrison. 

executivk im.\nsiox, 
October J, iSgo. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison 229 



PUBLIC BUILDING AT BAR HARBOR, ME. 

To the Senate : 

I retuni to the Senate, in which it originated, with my objections, 
the bill (No. 544) "to proviile for the purchase of a site, and the 
erection of a public buildino; thereon, at Bar Harbor, in the State 
of Maine." The statement of a few facts will show, I think, that 
the public needs do not justify the contemplated expenditm-e of 
$75,000 for the erection of a public building at Bar Harbor. 
Onlv one public office, the post-office, is to be accommodated. It 
appears from a report of the Postmaster-General that the rent paid 
by the United States for a room containing 875 square feet of floor 
space was, in 1888. $300, and the expenditure for fuel and lights 
$60. One clerk was employed in the office and no carriers. The 
gross postal receipts for that year were $7,000. Bar Harbor is almost 
wholly a summer resort. The population of the town of E;deu, of 
which Bar Harbor forms a part, as taken by the census enumerators, 
was less than 2,000. During one quarter of the year this population 
is largely increased by summer visitors, but for the otlier three 
quarters is not much above the census enumeration. The postal 
receipts for 1890, by quarters, show that for more than half the 
year the gross receipts of the post-office are about $S per day. 
The salary of a janitor for the new building would be more than 
twice the present cost to the Government for rent, fuel, and lights. 
I can not believe that upon reconsideration the Congress will 
approve the contemplated expenditure. 

Benj. Harrisox. 

ExECTTivK Mansion, 

December 24, /Sc>o. 



RAILROAD BONDS-OKLAHOMA CITY. 

To the House of Representatives: 

I return herewith, without mv approval, the bill (H. R. 12365) 
entitled "An act to authorize Oklahoma City, in Oklahoma Terri- 
tory, to issue bonds to provide a right of way for the Choctaw Coal 
and Railwav Companv through said city." This bill authorizes 
the corporation of Okiahoma City to issue corporate bonds to tlie 
amount of $40,000, for the purpose of providing a right of wav- for 
a railroad companv through the city, if the proposition shall receive 



230 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

the assent of a majority of the legal voters at au election to be 
called for that pnrpose. 

It is attempted to distinguish this case from the ordinary case of 
a municipal grant to a railway company by the fact that this railway 
company had located its line through the lands afterwards settled 
upon under the town-site law before such settlement, and that the 
route thus located cuts the plat of the city diagonally and in a way 
to be very injurious to property interests. 

Upon an examination of the facts, it appears to me to be clear 
that no legal location was made by the railway company prior 
to the acquisition of the lands by the occupying settlers. Some 
preliminary surveys had been made, but no map of location had 
been filed with the Secretary of the Interior. If the rights of this 
company at this point of its road, as to right of way, are derived 
from the general statute of the United States upon that subject 
(Revised Statutes, Supplement, page 87), then section 4 distinctly 
saves the right of any settler who had located prior to the filing of 
a profile of the road and the approval by the Secretary of the Inte- 
rior thereof. And, if, on the other hand, the rights of the company 
at the point indicated are derived from the act of Congress of 
February 18, 1888, "to authorize the Choctaw Coal and Railway 
Company to construct and operate a railway through the Indian 
Territory, and for other purposes," section 6 of that act also plainly 
protects the right of any occupying claimant. The latter statute, 
it seems to me, was intended to grant a right of way only through 
Indian lands, and if these lands were not such, the general statute, 
to which I have referred, would apply ; but in either event the 
conclusion is the same. 

It appears from the report of the committee that its favorable 
action, and I must assume the favorable action of Congress, pro- 
ceeded upon the theory that there was a real controversy, doubtful 
as to its issue, as to the right of the railroad company to hold the 
line of its survey through the city. 

I Stripped, then, of this claim, the proposition is nakedly one to 
authorize Oklahoma City to donate $40,000 to the Choctaw Coal 
and Railway Company. The general statute of the United States 
prohibits such grants, and this must stand, imtil repealed, as a 
continuing expression of legislative opinion. If a departure from 
this rule is to be allowed at all, certainly it should only be where 
the circumstances are exceptional. Such circumstances, in my 
opinion, do not exist in this case. Already I have received from 
other cities in the Territory protests against special legislation of 
this sort, accompanied by the suggestion that if this policy is 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Plarrison. 231 

admitted other cities shall also be allowed to encourage the building 
of roads by donation. 

Oklahoma City, according to the report of the Census Office, has 
a population of about 4,100, and this donation would be equivalent 
to nearly $10 per capita. Very little real estate, whether town site 
or country property, in this Territory is yet subject to assessment for 
taxation. The people have not yet had time to accumulate, and 
Congress has received appeals for aid to relieve a prevailing distress 
which the Territorial authorities have found themselves unable to 
deal with. It does not seem to me, in view of all these facts, that 
the wholesome rule prescribed by the general statute should be 
departed from. 

Benj. Harrison. 

EXECUTIVK Man.sion, 

January 26, iSgi. 



PROMOTION OF CHIEF OF RECORD AND PENSION 

OFFICE. 
To tlie Senate: 

I return to the Senate without niv approval the bill (S. 4620) "to 
establish the Record and Pension Office of the War Department, 
and for other purposes." 

This bill proposes to change the designation of one of the divisions of 
the War Department. It is now the "Record and Pension Division," 
and it is proposed that it .shall hereafter be the "Record and Pension 
Office" of the War Department. The scope of the work assigned 
to this division or office is not changed, but the organization now 
existing under a classification made by the Secretary of War is, 
by the bill, made permanent and put beyond the control of the 
Secretary. The change of designation seems to have been intended 
to add dignity to the position, and the effect of the bill is probably 
to require that the chief of this office shall hereafter be appointed 
only by and with the advice and consent of the vSenate, though it is 
not clear that any provision is made for a chief after the particular 
person designated in the bill has been separated from the place, or 
in case he is not appointed. 

The real object of the bill is disclosed in the following clause: 

The President is hereby autliorized to iiomiiKiIe and, liy and with tlic advice and 
consent of the Senate, to appoint the ofliccr now in charge of said Record and Pension 
Division to be colonel in the .\rmy. and chief of said office. 

It is fairly to be implied from the bill that, in the opinion of 
Congress the public interests would be promoted b\- making the 



232 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

contemplated change in the grade of this office and by giving the 
rank and pay of a colonel in the Army to the chief. A new and 
rather anomalons office is therefore created — that of ' ' colonel in the 
Army and chief of the Record and Pension Office of the War Depart- 
ment" — but npon the condition that the President shall nominate 
a particnlar person to fill it. I do not think it is competent for 
Congress to designate the person who shall fill an office created by 
law, and practically nothing remains of the bill nnder consideration 
if this person is not to be appointed. The office is an important 
one, connected with the active civil administration of the War 
Department. I can not agree that the selection of the officer shall 
be taken out of the discretion of the Executive, where the responsi- 
bility for good administration necessarily rests. It is probably true 
that the officer intended to be benefited is lieculiarly deserving and 
has had remarkable success in the discharge of the duties of the 
office; but these are considerations for the appointing power, and 
might safely have been left there. 

If this particular appointment was backed by reasons so obvious 
as to secure the su^Dport of both Houses of Congress, it should have 
been assumed that these reasons could have been made obvious 
to the Executive by the ordinary methods. In connection with 
the Army and Navy retired lists, legislation akin to this has become 
quite frequent, too frequent in my opinion, but these laws have 
been regarded as grants of pensions rather than of offices. 

If it is to be allowed that active places connected with the Execu- 
tive Departments can be created upon condition that particnlar 
persons are, or are not, to be designated to fill them, the power of 
appointment might be wholly diverted from the Executive to the 
Congress. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Man.sion, 

February 26, i8gi. 



RELIEF OF ESTATE OF GEORGE W. LAWRENCE. 

To the Senate: 

I return herewith, without my approval, the bill (S. 3270) "for 
the relief of the administratrix of the estate of George W. I^aw- 
rence. ' ' 

If I rightly construe this bill it authorizes the Court of Claims 
to give judgment in favor of the contractor with the United States 
for the construction of the vessels named {Agawam and Pontoosuc) 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 233 

for the difference between the contract price and the actual cost to 
the contractor of building the vessels, subject only to the condition 
that nothing shall be allowed for any advance in the price of labor 
or material, unless sucli advance occurred during the prolonged 
term for completing the work rendered necessi^ry by delay resulting 
fnjm the action of the Ciovernment. The bill is somewhat obscure, 
but I have, I think, correctly stated the legal effect of it. 

Undoubtedly in contracts made for Army and Navy supplies and 
construction during the early days of the war there was not infre- 
quently loss to the contractor by reason of the advance in the cost 
of labor, resulting from the withdrawal of so large a body of men 
for service in the field, and the indirect result of this upon the cost 
of material; but I can not believe that it is the purpose of Congress 
to reopen such contracts at this late day and to pay to the con- 
tractors the cost of the work or material which they stipulated to 
do or deliver at fixed prices. In the matter of another vessel con- 
structed by this same claimant, and in the case of one other similar 
claim, I approved bills at the last session, but they carefully limited 
any finding by tlie Court of Claims to such losses as necessarily 
resulted from the interference by the ( lOvernment with the progress 
of tlie work, thus creating delays and enhanced cost. 

In those cases the Government only undertook to make good 
losses resulting directly and unavoidably from its own acts. If the 
principle which seems to me to be embodied in the bill under con- 
sideration is adopted I do not see how the Congress can refuse in 
all cases of all sorts of contracts to make good the losses resulting 
from appreciation in the cost of labor and material. The expendi- 
ture that such a policy would entail is incalculable, and the policy 
itself is in my judgment indefensible. 

The bill at last session for the relief of this claimant, in the case 

of another vessel constructed by him, was, as I have said, carefully 

put upon the lines I have indicated, and if this claim could have 

been maintained upon those lines I assume that the bill would 

have been similar in its provisions. 

Benj. Harrison. 

ExKcuTivE Mansion, 

March 2, i8gi. 



234 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 



CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS. 

To the Senate: 

I return herewith, without my approval, the bill (vS. 2729) entitled 
"An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to establish circuit courts 
of appeals, and to define and regulate in certain cases the jurisdiction 
of the courts of the United States, and for other purposes.' " 

The original act to which this amendment is proposed, constituting 
an intermediate court of appeals, had for its object the relief of the 
Supreme Court by limiting the cases which might be brought up 
for hearing in that court. The first section of the bill under 
consideration allows appeals in criminal cases where the sentence 
imposes no imprisonment and the fine is as much as $1,000. The 
effect of this provision will be to bring to the Supreme Court many 
cases that, in my opinion, should be finally determined in the 
intermediate appellate court, and so, in part, to defeat the general 
purpose of Congress in constituting the intermediate court. But 
this objection would not alone have sufficient weight in my mind 
to induce me to return the bill. Section 3 of the bill is as follows : 

That no appe.il shall hereafter be allowed from judgments of the Court of Claims in 
cases under the act of March 3, i8gi, entitled "An act to provide for the adjudication 
and payment of claims arising from Indian depredations," except where the adjudica- 
tion involves the construction or application of the Constitution or the validity or 
construction of a treaty or the constitutionality of a law of the United States : Provided, 
however. That upon such appeal it shall be competent for the Supreme Court to require, 
by certiorari or otherwise, the whole case to be certified for its review and determination 
upon the facts as well as the law. 

I am advised by the Attorney-General that under the Indian 
depredations act, 8,000 cases, involving an aggregate of damages 
claimed of about $30,000,000, have already been filed. A number 
of these cases involve as much as $100,000 each, while a few involve 
as much as $500,000 each, and one something over $1,000,000. 
The damages which may be awarded in these cases by the Court of 
Claims are to be paid out of the trust funds of the Indians held by 
the United States, or, if there are no such funds, out of the Treasury 
of the United States. The law referring these cases to the Court of 
Claims has had no judicial interpretation, and many novel and 
difficult questions are likely to arise. It is quite a startling propo- 
sition and a very novel one, I think, that there shall be absolutely 
no opportunity for the review in an appellate court, in cases involv- 
ing such large amounts, of questions involving the construction of 
the statute vinder which the court is proceeding, or those various 
questions of law, many of them new, which necessarily arise in 
such cases. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 235 

Neither the claimants, the Indians, nor the Government of the 
United States should be absolutely denied opportunity to bring 
their exceptions to review by some appellate tribunal. I would not 
suggest that an appeal should be allowed in all cases. Some limita- 
tion as to amount would be reasonable, and perhaps some discretion 
might be lodged in the Supreme Court as to granting appeals. The 
limitations, however, imposed by the section I have quoted are so 
severe and unreasonable, in nn- judgment, that I have felt compelled 
to return the bill to the Senate with a view to its reconsideration. 

Benj. Harrison. 

ExHcuTivK Mansion, 

[illy 11^, iSg2. 



THE CLAIM OF WILLIAM McGARRAHAN 

To the Senate : 

I return herewith, without my approval, the bill (S. 1958) entitled 
"An act to submit to the Court of Private L,and Claims, established 
by an act of Congress approved March 3, 1891, the title of William 
McGarrahan to the Rancho Panoche Grande in the State of Cali- 
fornia, and for other purposes. ' ' 

This bill came to me on the 20th instant, at a time when verj' 
many other bills were suljmitted for my consideration, and it has 
not been possible for me to make such an examination of the history 
of Mr. AIcGarrahan's claim as woidd be necessary to form an intel- 
ligent judgment as to its merits and just extent. It is quite possible 
that he lias been wronged and that he has a claim for some reparation 
from the Government. I can not, however, think that this bill 
proceeds upon a just basis. It provides that Mr. McGarrahan shall 
file his claim as the assignee of Gomez in the Court of Private Land 
Claims for the lands described in the title ; and that if the court estab- 
lishes the grant to Gomez it shall be confirmed to McGarrahan. No 
evidence that he is the assignee of Gomez is, I think, required by 
the bill, which assumes that feet, instead of submitting it to the 
court. If the claim is established it is provided, in substance, that 
all lands, part of said grant, which have been conveyed by the Gov- 
ernment or are in the occupancy of actual settlers, or "upon which 
there are any smelting or reduction works, or the lands claimed 
in connection with such reduction or smelting works," shall be 
excepted from the patent which the Secretary of the Interior is 
directed to issue to McGarrahan. By this provision the title of the 
New Idria Alining Company, which has long contested with McGar- 



236 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

rahan the title to a large part of this property, is established and 
that company is relieved from any responsibility to account for the 
profits made in mining. On the other hand, the United States 
waives all benefit of judicial proceedings which have resulted in its 
favor and gives Mr. McGarrahan an opportunity dc novo to try all 
such questions ; and the decision, if in his favor, is not only to 
restore to him all the lands yet undisposed of, but the United States 
assumes to pay him the value of the lands appropriated by others, 
and of their use for all these years, and to account to him for all 
profits that have been made by the New Idria Mining Company, or 
any one else, in quicksilver or other mining. 

This seems to me to be wholly inadmissible. The amount 
involved must be enormously large, though at present incapable of 
any accurate estimate. If the title of the New Idria Company has 
been established by final decrees of court, placing that title beyond 
question, and that company beyond any call to respond for use 
and profits, why should the Government of the United States, 
waiving in its behalf these decrees which would protect it also, 
assume a responsibility to account for the value of the lands and for 
their use and for the net value of minerals extracted by that 
company or others? It will be noticed in the quotation I have 
made from the act that this company is allowed to take all the land 
it may claim, but at the expense of the United States, not of Mr. 
McGarrahan. 

The bill is so framed as to give full protection to the New Idria 
Mining Company to the full extent of its largest claim, while 
throwing upon the United States a responsibility which that com- 
pany should bear if the title of Mr. McGarrahan is established. 

The United States provided a proper tribunal for the trial of 
claims founded upon Mexican grants. This claim was there tried, 
and if fraud affected the judgment it is not, I think, chargeable to 
the Government — the contest was chiefly between rival claimants. 
In this state of the case it would seem that if the United States 
consents to open the litigation, and to wipe out all judicial findings 
and decrees, that a less exacting measure of damages than that pro- 
posed in the bill should be agreed on. 

It is not my purpose, as I have intimated, to express the opinion 
that Mr. McGarrahan is entitled to no relief It seems to me, how- 
ever, clear that he is not entitled to the relief given by this bill, and 
that it does not adequate!)- protect the interests of the United States. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, 
July 2g, 1892. 



Public Papers and Addrascs of Benjamin Harrison. 237 



AMENDING THE LAW AS TO LAND CLAIMS. 

To tlic Sen ale : 

I return herewith, without my approval, the bill (S. iiii) 
entitled " An act to amend the act of Congress approved March 3, 
1887, entitled 'An act to provide for the bringing of suits against 
the Government of the United States.' " 

If I may judge from the very limited discussion of this measure 
in Congress the sweeping effects of it upon the administration of 
the public lands could hardly have been fully realized. From the 
beginning of the Government the administration of the public 
lands and the issuing of patents under the land laws have been an 
executive function. 

The jurisdiction of the courts as to contesting claims for patents 
has awaited the action of the General Land Office. Land offices 
have been established and maintained in all the districts where 
public lands were found, located with reference to the convenience 
of the settlers, and the proceedings have been informal and inex- 
pensive. It is true that at times, by an administration of the land 
office unfriendly toward the settlers, unnecessary delays involving 
much hardship have intervened in the issuing of patents; but such 
is not the case now. The work of the laud office within the last 
three years has been so efficient and so friendly to the bona fide 
settler that the large accumulation of cases there has been swept 
awav, and the office, as I am informed by the Secretary of the 
Interior, is now engaged upon current business. 

It seems to me that a transfer, in whole or in part, of this business 
to the courts, some of whose dockets are already loaded with cases, 
can not tend to expedition: while it is very manifest that by reason 
of the greater formalit>- in the taking and presentation of evidence 
which would be required in court, and of the long distances 
which settlers would have to traverse in order to attend court, 
the costs in such cases would be enormously increased. 

It is proposed by this bill to give what is called concurrent juris- 
diction to the district courts of the United vStates and to the Court 
of Claims to hear and determine all claims for land patents under 
any law or grant of the United States. Whether concurrent with 
each other or with each other and the Land Office is not clear. 

It is quite doubtful under the rulings of the Supreme Court 
whether the courts now provided by law for the Territories are 
"district courts of the United States " within the meaning of this 
bill. The effect of this legislation would, if they were held not to 



238 Public Papers and Addresses of Boijauiin Harrison. 

be such, be that as to all suits relating to lands in the Territories 
of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Oklahoma, no other forum is 
provided than the Court of Claims at Washington. In this state of 
the case a settler or one who has taken a mineral claim in any of 
these Territories would be subject to be brought to the city of 
Washington for the trial of his case. 

In view of the fact that all recent legislation of Congress has been 
in the direction of subdividing judicial districts and of bringing the 
United States courts nearer to the litigants, I can only attribute to 
oversight the passage of this bill, which in my opinion, would 
burden the homesteader and preemptor whose claim is contested, 
whether by another individual or by any corporation, by compelling 
him to appear at Washington and to conduct with the formality and 
expense incident to court proceedings the defense of his title. But 
even in the case of land contests arising in the States where district 
courts exist, the plaintiff, it will be observed by this act, is given the 
option to sue in those courts or to bring his adversary to Washing- 
ton to litigate the claim. Why should he have this advantage? — 
one that is not given, so far as I know, in any other law fixing 
the forum of litigation between individuals. Not only is this true, 
but the Court of Claims was established for the trial of cases between 
individuals and corporations on the one side and the United States 
on the other, and, so far as I now recall, wholly for the trial of 
money claims. 

There are no adequate provisions of law, if any at all, for con- 
ducting suits between individuals contesting private rights. The 
court has one bailiflf and one messenger, no marshal, and is not 
provided, I think, either with the machinery or with the appropria- 
tion to send its processes to the most distant parts of the country. 
Yet it is apparent that under this bill the real issue would frequently 
be between rival claimants, and not between either and the United 
States. This court, too, is already burdened with business, since 
the reference to it of the Indian depredation claims, the French 
spoliation claims, etc., and it certainly can not be thought that a 
more speedy settlement of land claims could be there obtained than 
is now given. 

Again, the bill is so indefinite in its provisions that it can not be 
told, I think, what function, if any, remains to be discharged by 
the General Land Office. It was said in answer to an interrogatory 
when the bill was under consideration, that it did not affect claims 
pending in the Land Office; and yet it seems to me that its effect 
is to allow any contestant in the Land Office, at any stage of the 
proceedings there, to transfer the whole controversy to the courts. 
He may take his chances of success in the Land Office, and if, at 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijainiii Harrison. 239 

aii\- time, he becomes apprehensive of an adverse decision, lie may 
begin dc novo in the conrts. 

If it was intended to preserve the jurisdiction of the Land Office, 
and to hold cases there until a judgment had been reached, the bill 
should have so provided; for it is capable of, and indeed seems to 
me compels the construction that either party may forsake the Land 
Office at any stage of a contest. I am quite inclined to believe that 
if ])rovision were made, as in section 1063 of the Revised Statutes, 
relating to claims in other departments, for the transfer to a proper 
court, under proper regulations, of certain contest cases involving 
questions affecting large classes of claims, it would be a relief to 
the Land Office and would tend to a more speedy adjustment of 
laud titles in such cases, a result which would be in the interest of 
all our people. 

Nothing is more disadvantageous to a community, its progress 
and peace, than unsettled land titles. This bill, however, as I have 
said, is so radical, and seems to me to be so indefinite in its 
provisions, that I can not give it m\' approval. 

Benj. Harrlson. 

Executive M.\nsion, 

August 9, iSgz. 



JUDICIAL OFFICERS IN ALABAMA. 

To the House of Representatives: 

I return herewith, without my approval an act (H. R. 9613) 
entitled "An act to prescribe the number of district attorneys and 
marshals in the judicial districts of the State of Alabama." 

Under the present law there is a district attorney for the southern 
district of Alabama, a district attorney for the northern and middle 
districts, a marshal for the northern district and a marshal for the 
southern and middle districts. An e.vamination of the records of 
the Attorney-General's office as to the amount of business in the 
courts in these districts leads me to believe that two districts would 
provide amply for the disposition of all public and private cases. 
The law creates two new officers whose aggregate compensation 
ma\- be $12,000 per annum, without, it seems to me, a justifying 
necessity. But the most serious objection to the legislation is that 
it creates at once, upon the taking effect of the law, the offices of 
district attorney and marshal for each of the three districts; and the 
effect, it seems to me, must be to abolish the offices as they now 
exist. No provision is made for a continued discharge of the duties 
of marshal and district attorne\- by the present incumbents. A 



240 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

serious question -would be raised as to whether these officers were 
not at once legislated out of office and vacancies created. As these 
vacancies could not be filed immediately the business of the courts 
would seriously suffer. The law should at least have contained a 
provision for the continued discharge of their duties by the incum- 
bents until the new officers were appointed and qualified. 

Benj. Harrison. 
Executive Mansion, 

February .?/, iSg^. 



PROCLAMATIONS AND ORDERS. 

THANKSGIVING, 1889. 

A highly favored people, mindful of their dependence on the 
bounty of divine Providence, should seek fitting occasion to testify 
gratitude and ascribe praise to Him who is the author of their many 
blessings. It behooves us then to look back with thankful hearts 
over the past year and bless God for his infinite mercy in vouchsafing 
to our land enduring peace, to our people freedom from pestilence 
and famine, to oirr husbandmen abundant harvests, and to them 
that labor a recompense of their toil. 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States of America, do earnestly recommend that Thursday, the 28th 
day of this present month of November, be set apart as a day of 
national thanksgiving and prayer, and that the people of our coun- 
try, ceasing from the cares and labors of their working day, shall 
assemble in their respective places of worship and give thanks to 
God, who has prospered us on our way and made our paths the paths 
of peace ; beseeching Him to bless the day to our present and future 
good, making it truly one of thanksgiving for each reunited home 
circle as for the nation at large. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this first day of November, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight\-- 
[SEAL. ] nine, and of the independence of the United States the one 
hundred and fourteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 
James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaiiiin Harrison. 241 



THANKSGIVING, 1890. 

By the grace and favor of Almighty God the people of this nation 
have been led to the closing days of the jjassing )ear, which has 
been full of the blessings of peace and the comforts of plenty. 
Bountiful compensation has come to us for the work of our minds 
and of our hands in every department of human industry. 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby appoint Thursday, the 27th day of 
the present month of November, to be observed as a day of prayer 
and thanksgiving; and I do invite the people, upon that day to cease 
from their labors, to meet in their accustomed houses of worship 
and to join in rendering gratitude and praise to our beneficent Crea- 
tor for the rich blessings He has granted to us as a nation, and in 
invoking the continuance of His protection and grace for the future. 
I commend to my fellow-citizens the privilege of remembering the 
poor, the homeless, and the sorrowful. Let us endeavor to merit 
the promised recompense of charity and the gracious acceptance of 
our praise. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this eighth day of November, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
[seat.] ninety, and of the Independence of the United States the 
one hundred and fifteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State 



THANKSGIVING, 1891. 

It is a very glad incident of the marvelous prosperity which has 
crowned the year now drawing to a close that its helpful and 
reassuring touch has been felt by all our people. It has been as 
wide as our country, and so special that every home has felt its 
comforting influence. It is too great to be the work of man's power 
and too particular to be the device of his mind. To God, the 
Beneficent and the All Wise, who makes the labors of men to be 
fruitful, redeems their losses by His grace, and the measure of whose 
giving is as much beyond the thoughts of man as it is beyond his 
15151 IG 



242 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

deserts, the praise and gratitude of the people of this favored nation 

are justly due. 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby appoint Thursday, the 26th day of 
November present, to be a day of joyful thanksgiving to God for the 
bounties of His providence, for the peace in which we are permitted 
to enjoy them, and for the preservation of those institutions of civil 
and religious liberty which He gave our fathers the wisdom to devise 
and establish, and us the courage to preserve. Among the appro- 
priate observances of the day are rest from toil, worship in the public 
congregation, the renewal of family ties about our American firesides, 
and thoughtful helpfulness towards those who suffer lack of the 
body or of the spirit. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United vStates to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington, this thirteenth day of November, 
in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and 
[seal.] ninety-one, and of the Independence of the United vStates 
the one hundred and sixteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



THANKSGIVING, 1892. 

The gifts of God to our people during the past year have been so 
abundant and so special that the spirit of devout thanksgiving 
awaits not a call, but only the appointment of a day when it may 
have a common expression. He has stayed the pestilence at our 
door; He has given us more love for the free civil institutions in 
the creation of which His directing providence was so conspicuous; 
He has awakened a deeper reverence for law; He has widened our 
philanthropy by a call to succor the distress in other lands; He 
has blessed our schools and is bringing forward a patriotic and God- 
fearing generation to execute His great and benevolent designs for 
our country; He has given us great increase in material wealth 
and a wide diffusion of contentment and comfort in the homes of 
our people; He has given His grace to the sorrowing. 

Wherefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, 
do call upon all our people to observe, as we have been wont, 
Thursday, the 24tli day of this month of November, as a day of 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 243 

tli^inksgiving to God for His mercies and of supplication for His 
continued care and grace. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this fourth day of November, one 
thousand eight hundred and ninety-two, and of the 
[SE.^L.] Independence of the United States the one hundred 
and seventeenth. 

Benj. Harrison, 
By the President; 

John W. Foster, 

Secretary 0/ State. 



WASHINGTON CENTENNIAL. ANNIVERSARY. 

A hundred vears have passed since the Government which our 
forefathers founded was formally organized. At noon on the 30th 
day of April, 1789, in the city of New York, and in the presence of 
an assemblage of the heroic men whose patriotic devotion had led 
the colonies to victory and independence, George Washington took 
the oath of office as Chief Magistrate of the new-born Republic. 
This impressive act was preceded, at 9 o'clock in the morning, in 
all the churches of the city, by prayer for God's blessing on the 
Government and its first President. 

The centennial of this illustrious event in our history has been 
declared a general holiday by act of Congress to the end that the 
people of the whole country may join in commemorative exercLses 
appropriate to the day. 

In order that the joy of the occasion may be associated with a 
deep thankfulness in the minds of the people for all our blessings 
in the past, and a devout supplication to God for their gracious 
continuance in the future, the representatives of the religious 
creeds, both Christian and Hebrew, have memorialized the Govern- 
ment to designate an hour for prayer and thanksgiving on that 
day. 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States of America, in response to this pious and reasonable request, 
do recommend that on Tuesday, April 30, at the hour of 9 o'clock 
in the morning, the people of the entire country repair to their 
respective places of divine worship, to implore the favor of God 
that the blessings of liberty, prosperity and peace may abide with 



244 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

us as a people, and that His hand may lead us in the paths ,ot 
righteousness and good deeds. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States of America to be affixed. 

Done in the city of Washington this fourth day of April, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty- 
[SEAL.] nine, and of the Independence of the United States the 
one hundred and thirteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 
By the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



THE COLUMBUS QUARTO CENTENARY. 

Whereas, by a joint resolution approved June 29, 1892, it was 
resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, "That the president of 
the United States be authorized and directed to issue a proclamation 
recommending to the people the observance in all their localities 
of the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America, on 
the twenty-first of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, by 
public demonstrations and by suitable exercises in their schools 
and other places of assembly. " 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States of America, in pursuance of the aforesaid joint resolution, do 
hereby appoint Friday, October 21, 1892, the four hundredth anni- 
versary of the discovery of America by Columbus, as a general 
holiday for the people of the United States. On that day let the 
people, so far as possible, cease from toil and devote themselves to 
such exercises as may best express honor to the discoverer and 
their appreciation of the great achievements of the four completed 
centuries of American life. 

Columbus stood in his age as the pioneer of progress and enlight- 
enment. The system of universal education is in our age the most 
prominent and salutary feature of the spirit of enlightenment, and 
it is peculiarly appropriate that the schools be made by the people 
the center of the day's demonstration. Let the national flag float 
over every school house in the country, and the exercises be such 
as shall impress upon our youth the patriotic duties of American 
citizenship. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaiuiii Ifarrisoii. 245 

In the churches and in the other pkices of assembly of the people, 
let there be expressions of gratitude to divine Providence for the 
devout faith of the discoverer, and for the divine care and guidance 
which has directed our history and so abundantly blessed our 
people. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United vStates to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this twenty-first day of July, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
[seal.] ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States 
the one hundred and seventeenth. 

Benj. H.^rrison. 
By the President: 

John W. Foster, 

Secretary of Stale. 



THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 

Whereas satisfactory proof has been presented to me that pro- 
vision has been made for adequate grounds and buildings for the 
uses of the World's Columbian Exposition, and that a sum not less 
than f 10,000,000, to be used and expended for the purposes of said 
Exposition, has been provided in accordance with the conditions 
and requirements of section 10 of an act entitled "An act to provide 
for celebrating the four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery 
of America b\- Christopher Columbus by holding an international 
exhibition of arts, industries, manufactures, and the products of the 
soil, mine, and sea, in the city of Chicago, in the State of Illinois," 
approved April 25, 1890. 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States, by virtue of the authority vested in me by said act, do hereby 
declare and proclaim that such international exhibition will be 
opened on the ist day of May, in the year 1893, in the city of 
Chicago, in the State of Illinois, and will not be closed before the 
last Thursday in October of the same year. And in the name of 
the Government, and of the people of the United States, I do hereby 
invite all the nations of the earth to take part in the commemora- 
tion of an event that is preeminent in human history and of lasting 
interest to mankind, by appointing representatives thereto, and 
sending such exhibits to the World's Columbian Exposition as will 
most fitly and fully illustrate their resources, their industries, and 
their progress in civilization. 



246 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the citv of Washington this twenty-fourth day of Decem- 
ber, one thousand eight hundred and ninety, and of the 
[seal.] Independence of the United States the one hundred and 
fifteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 
By the President : 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

OPPOSITION TO THE LAWS IN WYOMING. 

Whereas, by reason of unlawful obstructions, combinations, and 
a.ssemblages of persons, it has become impracticable, in my judg- 
ment, to enforce by the ordinar}- course of judicial proceedings the 
the laws of the United States within the State and District of 
Wyoming, the United States marshal, after repeated efforts, being 
imable by his ordinary deputies, or by any civil posse which he is 
able to obtain, to execute the process of the United States courts : 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Benjamin Harrison, President 
of the United States, do hereby command all persons engaged in 
such resistance to the laws and the process of the courts of the United 
States to cease such opposition and resistance and to disperse and 
retire peaceably to their respective abodes, on or before Wednesday, 
the 3d day of August next. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set vox hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this thirtieth day of July, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
[SEAL.] two, and of the Independence of the United States the one 
hundred and seventeenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 
By the President : 

John W. Foster, 

Secretary of State. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beii/aiuiii Harrison. 247 



CANAL TOLLS FOR CANADIAN GOODS. 

Whereas, by an act of Congress approved July 26, 1892, entitled 
"x\n act to enforce reciprocal commercial relations between the 
United States and Canada, and for other purposes," it is provided — 

That, witli a view of securing reciprocal .idvantuKes for tlie citizens, ports, and 
vessels of tlie United States, on and after the first day of August, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-two, whenever and so often as tlie President shall be satisfied that the 
passage through any canal or lock connected with the navigation of the Saint Lawrence 
River, the Great Lakes, or the water ways connecting the same, of anv vessels of the 
United States, or of cargoes or passengers in transit to any port of the United States, 
is prohibited or is made difficult or burdensome by the imposition of tolls or otherwise 
which, in view of the free passage through the St. Marvs Falls Canal, now permitted 
to vessels of all nations, he shall deem to be reciprocally unjust and unreasonable, he 
shall have the power, and it shall be his duty, to suspend, by proclamation to that 
effect, for such time and to such extent (including absolute prohibition) as he shall 
deem just, the right of free passage through the Saint Marys Falls Canal, so far as it 
relates to vessels owned bj- the subjects of the government so discriminating against 
the citizens, ports, or vessels of the United States, or to any cargoes, portions of 
cargoes, or passengers in transit to the ports of the government making such discrim- 
ination, whether carried in vessels of the United States or of other nations. 

In such case and during such suspension tolls shall be levied, collected, and paid 
as follows, to wit: LTpon freight of whatever kind or description, not to exceed two 
dollars per ton; upon passengers, not to exceed five dollars each, as shall be from 
time to time determined by the President: Provided, That no tolls shall be charged or 
collected upon freight or passengers carried to and landed at Ogdensburg, or any port 
west of Ogdensburg, and south of a line drawn from the northern boundary of the 
State of New York through the Saint Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and their 
connecting channels to the northern boundary of the State of Minnesota. 

Sec. 2. All tolls so charged shall be collected under such regulations as shall be 
prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, who may require the master of each vessel 
to furnish a sworn statement of the amount and kind of cargo and the number of 
passengers carried and the destination of the same, and such proof of the actual 
delivery of such cargo or passengers at some port or place within the limits above 
named as he shall deem satisfactory; and until such proof is furnished such freight 
and passengers may be considered to have been landed at some port or place outside 
of those limits, and the amount of tolls which would have accrued if they had been so 
delivered shall constitute a lien, which may be enforced against the vessel in default 
wherever and whenever found in the waters of the United States. 

And whereas the Government of the Dominion of Canada imposes 
a toll amounting to about 20 cents per ton on all freight passing 
through the Welland Canal in transit to a port of the United States, 
and also a further toll on all vessels of the United States and on all 
passengers in transit to a port of the United States, all of which 
tolls are without rebate. 

And whereas the Government of the Dominion of Canada in 
accordance with an order in council of April 4, 1892, refunds 18 
cents per ton of the 20-cent toll at the Welland Canal on wheat, 



248 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjaiiiin Harrison. 

Indian corn, pease, barley, rye, oats, flaxseed, and buckwheat, upon 
condition that they are originally shipped for and carried to 
Montreal or some port east of Montreal for export, and that, if 
transshipped at an intermediate point, such transshipment is made 
within the Dominion of Canada, but allows no such nor any other 
rebate on said products when shipped to a port of the United States 
or when carried to Montreal for export if transshipped within the 
United States. 

And whereas the Government of the Dominion of Canada by 
said system of rebate and otherwise discriminates against the 
citizens of the United States in the use of said Welland Canal in 
violation of the provisions of article 27 of the treaty of Washington 
concluded May 8, 1871. 

And whereas said Welland Canal is connected with the navi^a- 
tion of the Great Lakes, and I am satisfied that the passage through 
it of cargoes in transit to ports of the United States is made diflScult 
and biirdensome by said discriminating system of rebate and 
otherwise, and is reciprocally unjust and unreasonable : 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the power to that end conferred 
upon me by said act of Congress approved July 26, 1892, do hereby 
direct that from and after September i, 1892, imtil further notice, 
a toll of 20 cents per ton be levied, collected, and paid on all freight 
of whatever kind or description passing through the St. Marys 
Falls Canal in transit to any port of the Dominion of Canada, 
whether carried in vessels of the United States or of other nations; 
and to that extent I do hereby suspend from and after said date the 
right of free passage through said St. Marys Falls Canal of any 
and all cargoes or portions of cargoes in transit to Canadian ports. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this eighteenth day of August, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
[seal.] ninety- two, and of the Independence of the United States 
of America the one hundred and seventeenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 
John W. Foster, 

Secretary 0/ State. 



Public Papers a ltd Addresses of Bciija)iiiii JIairisoii. 2-^9 



ADMITTING NEW STATES. 

NORTH DAKOTA. 



Whereas the Congress of the United States did by an act approved 
on the 22d day of Febrnary, 1S89, provide that the inhabitants of 
the Territory of Dakota might, upon the conditions prescribed in 
said act become the States of North Dakota and South Dakota; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the area comprising 
the Territory of Dakota should, for the purposes of the act, be 
divided on the line of the seventh standard parallel produced due 
west to the western boundary of said Territory and that the dele- 
gates elected as therein provided to the constitutional convention in 
districts north of said parallel should assemble in convention, at the 
time prescribed in the act, at the city of Bismarck; 

And whereas it was provided by the said act that the delegates 
elected as aforesaid should, after they had met and organized, 
declare on behalf of the people of North Dakota that they adopt 
the Constitution of the United States; whereupon the said con- 
vention should be authorized to form a constitution and State 
government for the proposed State of North Dakota; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution so 
adopted should be republican in form and make no distinction in 
civil or political rights on account of race or color, except as to 
Indians not taxed, and not be repugnant to the Constitution of the 
United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence; 
and that the convention should, by an ordinance irre\-ocable without 
the consent of the United States and the people of said States, make 
certain provisions prescribed in said act; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitutions of 
North Dakota and South Dakota should, respectively, incorporate 
an agreement to be reached in accordance with the provision of the 
act, for an equitable division of all property belonging to the Terri- 
tory of Dakota, the disposition of all public records and also for the 
apportionment of the debts and liabilities of said Territory, and that 
each of said vStates should obligate itself to pay its proportion of 
such debts and liabilities the same as if they had been created by 
such States respectively; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution 
thus formed for the people of North Dakota should, by an ordinance 
of the convention forming the same, be submitted to the people of 
North Dakota at an election to be held therein on the first Tuesday 
in October, 1889, for ratification or rejection b)' the qualified voters 



250 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

of said proposed State and that the returns of said election should 
be made to the secretary of the Territory of Dakota, who, with the 
governor, and chief justice thereof, or any two of them, should 
canvass the same; and if a majority of the legal votes cast should 
be for the constitution, the governor should certify the result to the 
President of the United States, together with a statement of the 
votes cast thereon, and upon separate articles or propositions and a 
copy of said constitution, articles, propositions and ordinances; 

And whereas it has been certified to me b}- the governor of the 
Territory of Dakota that within the time prescribed by said act of 
Congress a constitution for the proposed State of North Dakota has 
been adopted and the same ratified by a majority of the qualified 
voters of said proposed State in accordance with the conditions 
prescribed in said act; 

And whereas it is also certified to me by the said governor that at 
the same time that the body of said constitution was submitted to a 
vote of the people, a separate article, numbered 20 and entitled 
" Prohibition," was also submitted and received a majority of all 
the votes cast for and against said article as well as a majority of all 
the votes cast for and against the constitution, and was adopted; 

And whereas a duly authenticated copy of said constitution, 
article, ordinances, and propositions, as required by said act has 
been received by me: 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States of America, do, in accordance with the provisions of the act 
of Congress aforesaid, declare and proclaim the fact that the condi- 
tions imposed by Congress on the State of North Dakota to entitle 
that State to admission to the Union have been ratified and accepted 
and that the admission of the said State into the Union is now 
complete. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United States to be aflSxed. 

Done at the city of Washington this second day of November, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
[seal.] eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States 
of America the one hundred and fourteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaniiii Harrison. 251 



SOUTH DAKOTA. 



Whereas the Congress of the United States did, liv an act 
approved on the 22nd day of February, 1889, provide that the 
inhabitants of the Territory of Dakota might, upon the conditions 
prescribed in the said act, become the States of North Dakota and 
South Dakota; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the area comprising 
tlie Territory of Dakota should, for the purposes of the act, be 
divided on the line of the seventh standard parallel produced due 
west to the western boundars' of said Territory, and that the 
delegates elected as therein provided to the constitutional conven- 
tion in districts south of said parallel should, at the time prescribed 
in the act, assemble in convention at the city of Sioux Falls; 

And whereas it was provided by the said act that the delegates 
elected as aforesaid should, after they had met and organized, 
declare on behalf of the people of South Dakota that they adopt the 
Constitution of the United States; whereupon the said convention 
should be authorized to form a constitution and State government 
for the proposed State of South Dakota; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution so 
adopted should be republican in form, and make no distinction in 
civil or political rights on account of race or color, except as to 
Indians not taxed, and not be repugnant to the Constitution of the 
United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence; 
and that the convention should, by an ordinance irrevocable without 
the consent of the United States and the people of said States, make 
certain provisions prescribed in said act; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitutions of 
North Dakota and vSouth Dakota should, respectively, incorporate 
an agreement to be reached in accordance with the provisions of 
the act, for an equitable division of all property belonging to the 
Territory of Dakota, the disposition of all public records, and also 
for the apportionment of the debts and liabilities of said Territory, 
and that each of said States should obligate itself to pay its propor- 
tion of such debts and liabilities the same as if they had been 
created by such States respectively; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that at the election for 
delegates to the constitutional convention in South Dakota, as 
therein provided, each elector might have written or printed on his 
ballot these words, "For the Sioux Falls constitution." or the 
words "against the vSioux Falls constitution;" that the votes on 
this question should be returned and canvassed in the same manner 



252 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

as the votes for the election of delegates; and, if a majority of all 
votes cast on this question should be "for the Sioux Falls consti- 
tution" it should be the duty of the convention which might 
assemble at Sioux Falls, as provided in the act, to resubmit to the 
people of South Dakota, for ratification or rejection, at an election 
provided for in said act, the constitution framed at Sioux Falls and 
adopted November 3, 1885, and also the articles and propositions 
separately submitted at that election, including the question of 
locating the temporary seat of government, with such changes only 
as related to the name and boundary of the proposed State, to the 
reapportionment of the judicial and legislative districts, and such 
amendn:ents as might be necessary in order to comply with the 
provisions of the act; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution 
formed for the people of South Dakota should, by an ordinance of 
the convention forming the same, be submitted to the people of 
South Dakota at an election to be held therein on the first Tuesday 
in October, 1889, for ratification or rejection by the qualified voters 
of said proposed State, and that the returns of said election should 
be made to the secretary of the Territory of Dakota, who, with the 
governor and chief justice thereof, or any two of them, should 
canvass the same, and if a majority of the legal votes cast should be 
for the constitution the governor should certify the result to the 
President of the United States, together with a statement of the 
votes cast thereon and upon separate articles or propositions, and a 
copy of said constitution, articles, propositions and ordinances; 

And whereas it has been certified to me by the governor of the 
Territory of Dakota that at the aforesaid election for delegates the 
"Sioux Falls constitution" was submitted to the people of the 
proposed State of South Dakota, as provided in the said act; that a 
majority of all the v'Otes cast on this question was "for the Sioux 
Falls constitution;" and that the said constitution was, at the time 
prescribed in the act resubmitted to the people of South Dakota, 
with proper changes and amendments, and has been adopted and 
ratified by a majority of the qualified voters of said proposed State, 
in accordance with the conditions prescribed in said act; 

And whereas it was also certified to me by the said governor that 
at the same time that the body of said constitution was submitted 
to a vote of the people, two additional articles were submitted 
separately to wit: an article numbered 24 entitled "Prohibition," 
which received a majority of all the votes cast for and against said 
article, as well as a majority of all the votes cast for and against the 
constitution and was adopted: and an article numbered 25, entitled 



Public Papers ami Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 253 

"Minority representation," which did not receive a majorit)- of the 
votes cast thereon or upon the constitution and was rejected; 

And whereas a duly authenticated copy of said constitution, 
additional articles, ordinances and propositions as required by said 
act, has been received by me: 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States of America, do, in accordance with the act of Congress 
aforesaid, declare and proclaim the fact that the conditions imposed 
by Congress on the State of South Dakota to entitle that State to 
admission to the Union have been ratified and accepted, and that 
the admission of the said State into the Union is now complete. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United vStates to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Wa.shington this second day of November 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
[seal.] and eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United 
States of America the one hundred and fourteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Bv the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



MONTANA. 



Whereas the Congress of the United States did by an act approved 
on the 22d day of February, 1889, provide that the inhabitants of 
the Territory of Montana might, upon the conditions prescribed in 
.said act, become the State of Montana. 

And whereas it was provided by said act that delegates elected as 
therein provided, to a constitutional convention in the Territory of 
Alontana, should meet at the seat of government of said Territory; 
and that after they had met and organized they should declare on 
behalf of the people of Montana that they adopt the Constitution of 
the United States ; whereupon the said convention should be author- 
ized to form a State government for the proposed State of Montana ; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution so 
adopted should be republican in form and make no distinction in 
civil or political rights on account of race or color, except as to 
Indians not taxed, and not be repugnant to the Constitution of the 
United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence; 
and that the Convention should by an audience irrevocable without 



254 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

the consent of the United States and the people of said State make 
certain provisions prescribed in said act. 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution 
thus formed for the people of Montana should, by an ordinance of 
the convention forming the same, be submitted to the jDcople of 
Montana at an election to be held therein on the first Tuesday in 
October, 1889, for ratification or rejection by the qualified voters of 
said proposed State; and that the returns of said election should be 
made to the secretary of said Territory, who, with the governor and 
chief justice thereof, or any two of them, should canvass the same; 
and if a majority of the legal votes cast should be for the constitu- 
tion, the governor should certify the result to the President of the 
United States, together with a statement of the votes cast thereon, 
and upon separate articles or propositions, and a copy of said con- 
stitution, articles, propositions and ordinances. 

And whereas it has been certified to me by the governor of said 
Territory that within the time prescribed by said act of Congress a 
Constitution for the proposed State of Montana has been adopted and 
that the same, together with two ordinances connected therewith, 
has been ratified by a majority of the qualified voters of said pro- 
posed State in accordance with the conditions prescribed in said act. 

And whereas a duly authenticated copy of said constitution and 
ordinances, as required by said act, has been received by me: 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States of America, do, in accordance with the provisions of the act 
of Congress aforesaid, declare and proclaim the fact that the condi- 
tions imposed by Congress on the State of Montana to entitle that 
State to admission to the Union have been ratified and accepted and 
that the admission of the said State into the Union is now complete. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this eighth day of November, in 
the vear of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
[seal.] eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States 
of America the one hundred and fourteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Bcnjauiin Harrison. 255 



WASHINOTON. 



Whereas the Conjjress of the United States did by an act approved 
on the 22d day of February, 1889, provide that the inhabitants of 
the Territory of Washington might, upon the conditions prescribed 
in said act, become the State of Washington: 

And whereas it was provided by said act that delegates elected as 
therein pro\ided, to a constitutional convention in the Territory of 
Washington, should meet at the seat of government of said Terri- 
tory; and that, after they had met and organized they should declare 
on behalf of the people of Washington that they adopt the Consti- 
tution of the United States; whereupon the said convention should 
be authorized to form a State government for the proposed State of 
Washington; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution so 
adopted should be republican in form and make no distinction in 
civil or political rights on account of race or color, except as to 
Indians not taxed, and not be repugnant to the Constitution of the 
United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence; 
and that the convention should by an ordinance irrevocable without 
the consent of the United States and the people of said State make 
certain provisions prescribed in said act; 

And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution 
thus formed for the people of Washington should, by an ordinance of 
the convention forming the same, be submitted to the people of 
Washington at an election to be held therein on the first Tuesday 
in October, 1889, for ratification or rejection by the qualified voters 
of said proposed State; and that the returns of said election should 
be made to the secretary of said Territory, who, with the governor 
ano chief justice thereof, or an\- two of them, should canvass the 
same, and if a majority of the legal votes cast should be for the 
constitution, the governor should certify the result to the President 
of the United States, together with a statement of the votes cast 
thereon, and upon separate articles or propositions and a cop>- of 
said constitution, articles, propositions and ordinances 

And whereas it has been certified to me by the governor of said 
Territory' that within the time prescribed by said act of Congress a 
constitution for the proposed State of Washington has been adopted 
and that the same has been ratified by a majority of the qualified 
voters of said proijosed State in accordance with the conditions pre- 
scribed in said act ; 

And whereas it is also certified to me by the said governor that 
at the same time the bodv of said constitution was submitted to a 



256 Public Papers and Addresses of Bciijaiiiiii Narrison. 

vote of the people two separate articles entitled ' ' Woman's suffrage ' ' 
and "Prohibition" were likewise submitted, which said separate 
articles did not receive a majority of the votes cast thereon or upon 
the constitution and were rejected; also that at the same election the 
question of the location of a permanent seat of government was so 
submitted and that no place received a majority of all the votes cast 
upon said questions; 

And whereas a duly authenticated copy of said constitution and 
articles, as required by said act, has been received by me: 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States of America, do, in accordance with the provisions of the act 
of Congress aforesaid, declare and proclaim the fact that the condi- 
tions imposed by Congress on the State of Washington to entitle 
that State to admission to the Union have been ratified and accepted 
and that the admission of the said State into the Union is now 
complete. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this eleventh day of November, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
[seal.] eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United vStates 
of America the one hundred and fourteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



THE SEAL FISHERIES. 

The following provisions of the laws of the United States are 
hereby published for the information of all concerned: 

Section 1956, Revised Statutes, chapter 3, title 23, enacts that — 

No person sh.TlI kill any otter, mink, marten, sable, or fnr seal, or other fur-bearing 
animal within the limits of Alaska Territory, or in the waters thereof; and ever}' person 
guilty thereof shall, for each offense, be fined not less than two hundred nor more than 
one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both, and all vessels, 
their tackle, apparel, furniture and cargo, found engaged in violation of this section 
shall be forfeited, but the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to authorize the 
killing of any such mink, marten, sable, or other fur-bearing animal, except fur seals, 
under such regulations as he may prescribe, and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to 
prevent the killing of any fur seal, and to provide for the execution of the provisions 
of this section until it is otherwise provided Ijv law, nor shall he grant any special 
privileges under this section. 



Public Papers and ^[ddrcsses of Benjamin Harrison. 257 

Section 3 of the act entitled "An act to provide for the protection 
of tlie salmon fisheries of Alaska," approved March 2, 1889, pro- 
vides that; 

Sec-. 3. That section 11J56 of tlie Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby 
declared to include and appl)- to all the dominion of the United Slates in the waters of 
Behring Sea. and it shall be the duty nf the President at a timely season, in each year, 
to issue his proclamation, and cause the same to be published for one month at least 
in one newspaper (if any such there be) published at each United States port of entry 
on the Pacific coast, warning all persons against entering such waters for the purpose 
of violating the provisions or said section, and he shall also cause one or more 
vessels of the United States to diligently cruise said waters and arrest all persons and 
seize all vessels found to be or to have been engaged in any violation of the laws of 
the United States therein. 

Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United 
States, pursuant to the above recited statutes, hereby warn all 
persons against entering the waters of Bering vSea, within the 
the dominion of the United St^'tes, for the purpose of violating the 
provisions of said section 1956, Revised vStatutes; and I herebv 
proclaim, that all jDersons found to be, or have been engaged in an\- 
violation of the laws of the United vStates, in said waters, will be 
arrested and punished as above provided, and that all vessels so 
employed, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargoes will be 
seized and forfeited. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United ^States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this twenty-first day of ]\Iarcli, 
one thousand eight hundred and eightv-nine, and of the 
[sKAL.] Independence of the United States the one hundred and 
thirteenth. 

Bknj. Harrlson. 

By the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 

l,5l,-)l 17 



258 I'liblu J'apcrs and , hMrcsscs of Ikujauiin Harrison. 



MODUS VIVENDI RESPECTING THE FUR-SEAL 
FISHERIES. 

Whereas an agreement for a modus vivendi between the Govern- 
ment of the United States and the Government of Her Britannic 
Majesty, in relation to the fur-seal fisheries in Bering Sea, was 
concluded on the 15th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1891, 
word for word as follows: 

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE GOVERNMENT 
OF HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY FOR A MODUS VIVENDI IN RELATION TO THE FUR-SEAL 
FISHERIES IN BEHRING SEA. 

For the purpose of avoiding irritating differences and with a view to promote the 
friendly settlement of the questions pending between the two governments touching 
their respective rights in Behring Sea, and for the preservation of the seal species, the 
following agreement is made without prejudice to the rights or claims of either party. 

(i) Her Majesty's Government will prohibit, until May next, seal killing in that part 
of Behring Sea lying eastward of the line of demarcation described in article No. i of 
the treaty of 1S67 between the United States and Russia, and will promptly use its 
best efforts to ensure the observance of this prohibition by British subjects and vessels. 

(2) The United States Government will prohibit seal killing for the same period in 
the same part of Behring Sea and on the shores and islands thereof, the property of 
the United States (in excess of 7,50010 be taken on the islands for the subsistence and 
care of the natives) and will promptly use its best efforts to ensure the observance of 
this prohibition by United States citizens and vessels. 

(3) Every vessel or person offending against this prohibition in the said waters of 
Behring Sea outside of the ordinary territorial limits of the United States, may be seized 
and detained by the naval or other duly commissioned officers of either of the High 
Contracting Parties, but they shall be handed over as soon as practicable to the authori- 
ties of the nation to which they respectively belong, who shall alone have jurisdiction 
to try the offense and impose the penalties for the same. The witnesses and proofs 
necessary to establish the offense shall also be sent with them. 

(4) In order to facilitate such proper inquiries as Her Majesty's Government may 
desire to make, with a view to the presentation of the case of that Government before 
arbitrators, and in expectation that an agreement for arbitration may be arrived at, it 
is agreed that suitable persons designated by Great Britain will be permitted at any 
time, upon application, to visit or to remain upon the seal islands during the present 
sealing season for that purpose. 

Signed and sealed in duplicate at Washington, this fifteenth day of June, 1S91, on 
behalf of their respective Governments, by William F. Wharton, Acting Secretary of 
State of the United States, and Sir Julian Pauncefote, o. c. M. G., K. c. B., H. B. M. 
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. 

William F. Wharton, [seal.] 
Julian Pauncefote. [seal.] 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Benjamin Harrison, President 
of the United States of America, have caused the said agreement to 
be made public, to the end that the same and every part thereof may 
be observ^ed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States of 
America and the citizens thereof, 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 259 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this fifteenth day of June, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
[SKAL. j one, and of the Independence of the United States the one 
hundred and fii'teenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President : 

William F. Wharton, 

Acting Secretary of State. 



RENEWAL OF THE EXISTING MODUS VIVENDI IN 

BERING SEA. 

Whereas a convention between the United States of America and 
Great Britain for the renewal of the existing modus z'iz'endiin Bering 
Sea was signed by their respective plenipotentiaries at the city of 
Washington, on the iSth day of April, 1892, the original of which 
Convention, being in the English language, is word for word as 
follows: 

CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND GREAT BRITAIN For THE 
RENEWAL OF THE EXISTING " M<JDIJS VIVENDI" IN BEIIRING's SEA. 

Whereas by a Convention concluded between the Unitetl States of .America and Her 
Majesty the Oueen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on the twenty- 
ninth day of February, one-thousand eight hundred and ninety-two, llic High Contracting 
Parties have agreed to submit to Arbitration, as therein stated, the c|uestions which have 
arisen between them concerning the jurisdictional riglits of llir l^niteil States in tire 
waters of Behring's Sea and concerning also the preservation of the fur-seal in, or 
habitually resorting to, the said sea, and the rights of the citizens and subjects of either 
country as regards the taking of the fur-seal in, or habitually resorting to, the said 
waters; and whereas the High Contracting Parties, having diflered as to what restrictive 
Regulations for seal-hunting are necessary, during the pendency of such .Arbitration, 
have agreed to adjust such diflerence in manner hereinafter mentioned, and without 
prejudice to the rights of either party: 

The said High Contracting Parties have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries to 
to conclude a convention for this purpose, that is to say; 

The President of the United States of America, James (i. Blaini-, Secretary of Stale, 
of the United States. 

.■\nd Her Majesty the Oueen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 
Sir Julian Pauncefote, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint 
Michael and Saint George, Knight Conrmander of the Most Honorable Order of the 
Bath, and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty 
to the United States; 



26o J'lihlic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

Who, aflL-r liaviiiij coiuimiiiicalud Id each otlit-r thc-ir respective full powers, found 
in due and good form, liave agreed upon and concluded the following articles: 

Aktii'i.f. 1. 

Her Majesty's ('xivernment will prohibit, during the pendency of the Arbilialion, 
seal killing in thai part of Behring Sea lying eastward of the line of demarcation 
described in Article No. I of the Treaty of 1867 between the United States and Russia, 
and will promptly use its best efTorts to ensure the observance of this prohibition by 
British subjects and vessels. 

.\rticlk II. 

The United States Government will prohibit seal-killing for the same period in the 
same part of Behring's Sea, and on the shores and islands thereof, the property of the 
United States (in c.Kcess of seven thousand five hundred to be taken on the islands for 
the subsistence of the natives), and will proinptly use its best efforts to ensure the 
observance of this prohibition by United States citizens and vessels. 

/\kticle III. 

Every vessel or person oflTending against this prohibition in the said waters of 
Behring Sea outside of the ordinary territorial limits of the United States, iriay be 
seized and detained by the naval or other duly commissioned officers of either of the 
High Contracting Parties, but they shall be handed over as soon as practicable to the 
authorities of the Nation to which they respectively belong, who alone shall have 
jurisdiction to try the offence and impose the penalties for the same. The witnesses 
and proof necessary to establish the ofTense shall also be sent with them. 

Article IV. 

In order to facilitate such proper inquiries as Her Majesty's Government may desire 
to make with a view to the pres'jntation of the case and arguments of that Government 
before the Arbitrators, it is agreed that suitable persons designated by Great Britain 
will be permitted at any time, upon application, to visit or remain upon the Seal Islands 
during the sealing season for that purpose. 

Article \'. 

If the result of the Arbitration be to affirm the right of the British sealers to take 
seals in Behring Sea within the bounds claimed by the United States, under its purchase 
from Russia, then compensation shall be made by the United .States to Great Britain 
(for the use of her subjects) for abstaining from the exercise of that right during the 
pendency of the Arbitration upon the basis of such a regulated and limited catch or 
catches as in the opinion of the Arbitrators might have been taken without an undue 
diminution of the seal-herds; and, on the other hand, if the result of the Arbitration 
shall be to deny the right of British sealers to take seals within the said waters, then 
compensation shall be made by Great Britain to the United States (for itself, its citizens 
and lessees) for this agreement to liiriit the island catch to seven thousand five hundred 
a season, upon the basis of the difTerence between this number and such larger catch 
as in the opinion of the .Arbitrators might have been taken without an undue diminution 
of the seal-herds. 

The amount awarded, if any, in either case shall be such as under all the circum- 
stances is just and equitable, and shall be promptly paid. 

Article VI. 

This Convention maybe denounced by either of the I liuh Contracting Parties at 
any lime after the thirty-first day of October, one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijauiiii Harrison. 261 

three, on giving to the othci Part\- tv\'o monllis notice of its teiinination ; and al tlu- 
expiration of sticlr notice the Con\'ention sliall cease to be in force. 

Artki.k VII. 

The present Convention shall be duly ratified by the President of the United States, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by Her Britannic 
Majest)'; and the ratifications shall be exchanged either at Washington or at London 
as early as possible. 

In faith whereof, we, the respective PlcnijKitentiaries have signei.1 this Convention 
and have hereunto athxed our seals. 

Done in duplicate at Washington, tliis eighteenth day of April, one tlionsand eigKt 
hundred and ninety-two. 

y.A.MEs G. Blaine. [seal.] 
Julian Pauncefote. [seal.] 

And whereas the .said convention has been dnly ratified on both 
parts, and the ratifications of tlie two Governments were exchanged 
in tlie city of London on the /tli day of May, 1892: 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Benjamin Harrison, President 
of the United vStates of America, have cansed the said Convention 
to be made pnblic, to the end tliat the same, and every article and 
clause thereof, may be observed in t^ood faith by the United States 
and the citizens thereof. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
.seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this ninth day of May, in the 
\-ear of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
[sp:al. ] two, and of the Independence of the United States the one 
hundred and sixteenth. 



Benj. Harrison. 



By the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Sccretarv of State. 



THE BERING SEA ARBITRATION. 

Whereas a convention between the United States of America 
and Great Britain, providing for an amicable settlement of the 
questions which have arisen between tho.se Governments concern- 
ing the jurisdictional rights of the United States in the waters of 
the Bering vSea, and concerning also the preservation of the fur-seal 
in or habituallv resorting to the said .sea and the rights of the 
citizens and subjects of either country as regards the taking ot fur- 



263 Pnhlic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

seal in or habitually resortino^ to the said waters, was signed by 
their respective plenipotentiaries at the city of Washington on the 
29th day of February, 1892, the original of which con .ention, being 
in the English language and as amended by the Senate of the United 
States, is word for word as follows : 

The United Stales of America and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain and Ireland, being desirous to provide for an amicable settlement of 
the questions which have arisen between their respective Governments concerning the 
jurisdictional rights of the United States in the waters of Behring's Sea, and concerning 
also the preservation of the fur-seal in, or habitually resorting to, the said sea, and the 
rights of the citizens and subjects of either country as regards the taking of fur-seal in, 
or habitually resorting to, the said waters, have resolved to submit to arbitration the 
questions involved, and to the end of concluding a convention for that purpose have 
appointed as their respective plenipotentiaries : 

The President of the United States of America, James G. Blaine, Secretary of State 
of the United States ; and 

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir 
Julian Pauncefote, o. c. M. G., K. c. n.. Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
Plenipotentiary to the United States ; 

Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, which 
were found to be in due and proper form, have agreed to and concluded the following 
articles : 

Article I. 

The (|uestions which have arisen between the Government of the United States and 
the government of Her Britannic Majesty concerning the jurisdictional rights of the 
United States in the waters of Behiing's Sea, and concerning also the preservation of 
the fur-seal in, or habitually resorting to, the said sea, and the rights of the citizens and 
subjects of either country as regards the taking of fur-seal in, or habitually resorting 
to, the said waters, shall be submitted to a tribunal of arbitration, to be composed of 
seven arbitrators, who shall be appointed in the following manner, that is to say: Two 
shall be named by the President of the United States; two shall be named b}' Her 
Britannic Majesty; His Excellency the President of the French Republic shall be 
jointly requested by the High Contracting Parties to name one ; His Majesty the King 
of Italy shall be so requested to name one ; and His Majest\' the King of Sweden and 
Norway shall be so requested to name one. The seven arbitrators so named shall be 
jurists of distinguished reputation in their respective countries; and the selecting 
powers shall be requested to choose, if possible, jurists who are acquainted with the 
English language. 

In case of the death, absence, or incapacity to serve of any or cither of the said 
arbitrators, or in the event of any or either of the said arbitrators omitting or declining 
or ceasing to act as such, the President of the United States, or Her Britannic Majesty, 
or His Excellency the President of the French Republic, or His Majesty the King of 
Italy, or His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, as the case may be, shall name, 
or shall be requested to name forthwith, another person to act as arbitrator in the place 
and stead of the arbitrator originally named by such head of a State. 

And in the event of a refusal or omission for two months after receipt of the joini 
request from the High Contracting Parties of His Excellency the President of the 
French Republic, or His Majesty the King of Italy, or His Majesty the King of Sweden 
and Norway, to name an arbitrator, either to fill the original appointment or to fill a 
vacancy as above provided, then in such case the appointment shall be made or the 
vacancy shall be filled in such manner as the high contracting parties shall agree. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 263 

AuTHI.k II. 

The Arbitrators shall meet at Paris within twenty days after the delivery of the counter 
cases mentioned in Article IV, and shall proceed impartially and carefully to examine 
and decide the questions that have been or shall be laid before them as herein pro- 
vided on the part of the Governments of the United States and Her Britannic Majesty, 
respectivelv. All questions considered by the tribunal, incliulins; the final decision, 
shall be determined by a luajority of all the arbitrators. 

Each of the High Contractiug Parties shall also name one person to attend the tribunal 
as its agent to represent it generally in all matters connected with the arbitration. 

Article III. 

The printed case of each of the two parties, accompanied by the documents, the 
official correspondence, and other evidence on which each relies, shall be delivered in 
duplicate to each of the Arbitrators and to the Agent of the other party as soon as may 
be after the appointment of the members of the tribunal, but within a period not 
exceeding four months from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty. 

Aktici.e IV. 

Within three months after the delivery on both sides of the printed case, either party 
may, in like manner deliver in duplicate to each of the said Arbitrators, and to the 
Agent of the other party, a counter case, and additional documents, correspondence, 
and evidence in replv to the case, documents, correspondence, and evidence so pre- 
sented by the other party. 

If, however, in consequence of the distance of the place from which the evidence to 
be presented is to lie procured, either party shall, within thirty days after the receipt 
by its agent of the case of the other party, give notice to the other party that it requires 
additional time for the delivery of such counter case, documents, correspondence, and 
evidence such additional time so indicated, but not exceeding sixty days beyond the 
three months in this Article provided, shall be allowed. 

If in the case submitted to the Arbitrators either party shall have specified or alluded 
to any report or document in its own exclusive possession, without annexing a copy, 
such party shall be bound, if the other party thinks proper to apply for it, to furnish 
that party with a copv thereof; and either party may call uii.iii the other, through the 
Arbitrators, to produce the origin.als or certified copies of any papers adduced as 
evidence, giving in each instance notice thereof within thirty days after delivery of the 
case; and the original or copy so requested shall be delivered as soon as may be and 
within a period not exceeding forty days after recei])! of notice. 

Article V. 

It shall be the duty of the Agent of each party, within one month after the expiration 
of the time limited for the delivery of the counter case on both sides, to deliver in 
duplicate to each of the said Arbitrators and to the agent of the other party a printed 
argument showing the ])oints and referring to the evidence upon which his Government 
reUes, and either parly may also support the same before the Arbitrators by oral 
argument of counsel; and the Arbitrators may, if they desire further elucidation witli 
regard to any point, require a written or primed statement or argumeul, or oial argu- 
ment by counsel, upon it; but in such case the other party shall In- .niitled to reply 
either orally or in writing, as the case may be, 

.•\RTICLI', VI. 

In deciding the matters submitted to the Arbitrators, it is agreed that the following 
five points shall be submitted to them, in order that their award shall embrace- a dislincl 
decision upon each of said five points, to wit ; 

I. What exclusive jurisdiction in the sea now known as ilie liehrings .Sc-a. and what 



264 Public Papers and Addresses of Bciija»nn Harrison. 

exclusive rights in the seal fisheries therein, did Russia assert and exercise prior and 
up to the time of the cession of Alaska to the United States? 

2. How far were these claims of jurisdiction as to the seal fisheries recognized and 
conceded by Great Britain f 

3. Was the bod)- of water now known as the Behring's Sea included in the phrase 
" Pacific Ocean," as used in the Treaty of 1825 between Great Britain and Russia; and 
what rights, if any, in the Behring's Sea were held and exclusively exercised by Russia 
after said Treaty? 

4. Did not all the rights of Russia as to jurisdiction, and as to the seal fisheries in 
Behring's Sea east of the water boundary, in the Treaty between the United States and 
Russia of the 30th March, 1867, pass unimpared to the United States under thatTreat)'? 

5. Has the United States any right, and if so, what right of protection or property 
in the fur-seals frequenting the islands of the United States in Behring Sea when such 
seals are found outside the ordinary three-mile limit? 

Article VU. 

If the determination of the foregoing questions as to the exclusive jurisdiction of 
the United States shall leave the subject in such position that the concurrence of Great 
Britain is necessary to the establishment of Regulations for the proper protection and 
preser%'ation of the fur-seal in, or habitually resorting to, the Behring Sea, the Arbitrators 
shall then determine what concurrent Regulations outside the jurisdictional limits of 
the respective Governments are necessary, and over what waters such Regulations 
should extend, and to aid them in that determination the report of a Joint Commission 
to be appointed by the respective Governments shall be laid before them, with such 
other evidence as either Government may submit. 

The High Contracting Parties furthermore agree to cooperate in securing the adhesion 
of other Powers to such Regulations. 

Article VHI. 

The High Contracting Parties having found themselves unable to agree upon a 
reference which shall include the question of the liability of each for the injuries 
alleged to have been sustained by the other, or by its citizens, in connection with the 
claims presented and urged by it; and being solicitous that this subordinate question 
should not interrupt or longer delay the submission and determination of the main 
questions, do agree that cither may submit to the Arbitrators any question of fact 
involved in said claims and ask for a finding thereon, the question of the liability of 
either Government upon the facts found to be the subject of further negotiation. 

Article IX. 

The High Contracting Parties have agreed to appoint two Commissioners on the 
part of each Government to make the joint investigation and report contemplated in 
the preceding Article VII, and to include the terms of the said Agreement in the 
present Convention, to the end that the joint and several reports and recommendations 
of said Commissioners may be in due form submitted to the Arbitrators should the 
contingency therefor arise, the said Agreement is accordingly herein included as 
follows: 

Each Government shall appoint two Commissioners to investigate conjointly with 
the Commissioners of the other Government all the facts having relation to seal life in 
Behring's Sea, and the measures necessary for its proper protection and preservation. 

"The four Commissioners shall, so far as they may be able to agree, make a joint 
report to each of the two Governments, and they shall also report, either jointly or 
severally, to each Government on any points upon which they may be unable to agree. 

These reports shall not be made public until they shall be submitted to the Arbi- 
trators, or it shall appear that the contingency of their being used by the Arbitrators 
can not arise. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjauiin Idarrisoii. 265 
Artici.k X. 

Each Government shall pay the expenses of its members of the Joint romniission 
in the investigation referred to in the preceding Article. 

Article X[. 

The decision of the tribunal shall, if possible, be made within three months from 
the close of the argument on both sides. 

It shall be made in writing and dated, and shall be signed by the .Vrbitrators who 
may assent to it. 

The decision shall be in duplicate, one copy whereof shall be delivered to the .-Xgunt 
of the United States for his Government, and the other copy shall be delivered to the 
Agent of Great Britain for his Government. 

.^.RTICLE XII. 

Each Government shall pay its own Agent and provide for the proper remuneration 
of the counsel employed by it and of the Arbitrators appointed bv it, and for the 
expense of preparing and submitting its case to the tribunal. .All other e.xpenses 
connected with the .Arbitration shall be defrayed by the two Governments in equal 
moieties. 

Article XIII. 

The Arbitrators shall keep an accurate record of their proceedings, and m.ay appoint 
and employ the necessary officers to assist them. 

Article XIV, 

The High Contracting Parties engage to consider the result of the proceedings of 
the tribunal of arbitration, as a full, perfect, and final settlement of all the questions 
referred to the .Arbitrators. 

.Article X\'. 

The present treaty shall be duly ratified by the President of the United States of 
America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by Her 
Britannic Majesty; and the ratification shall be exchanged either at Washington or at 
London within six months from the d.ate hereof, or earlier if possible. 

In faith whereof we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, have signed this treaty ,ind 
have hereunto affixed our seals. 

Done in duplicate at Washington the twenty-ninth day of February, one thou.sand 
eight hundred and ninetv-two. 

James G. Blaine. [seal. J 

Julian Pauncefcite. [seal.] 

And whereas the said conveution ha.s been duh- ratified on both 
parts, and the ratifications of the two Governments were e.\chan«-ed 
in the city of London, on the 7th day of May, 1892: 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, P>enjamin Harrison, President 
of the United States of America, have can.sed the said Convention 
to be made pnblic, as amended, to the end that the same, and every 
article and clanse thereof, may he ol^served and fnlfiUed with good 
faith by the United States and the citizens tliercof 



256 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washinojton, this ninth day of May, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
[SEAL.] two, and of the Independence of the United States the 
one hundred and sixteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 



RECIPROCITY AGREEMENTS WITH BRAZIL. 

Whereas, pursuant to section 3 of the act of Congress approved 
October i, 1S90, entitled "An act to reduce the revenue and equalize 
duties on imports, and for other purposes," the Secretary of State 
of the United States of America communicated to the Government 
of the United States of Brazil the action of the Congress of the 
United States of America, with a view to secure reciprocal trade, 
in declaring the articles enumerated in said section 3, to wit, sugars, 
molasses, coffee, and hides, to be exempt from duty upon their 
importation into the United States of America; 

And whereas the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- 
tiary of Brazil at Washington has communicated to the Secretary of 
State the fact that, in due reciprocity for and consideration of the 
admission into the United States of America free of all duty of the 
articles enumerated in section 3 of said act, the Government of 
Brazil has, by legal enactment, authorized the admission, from and 
after April i, 1891, into all the established ports of entry of Brazil, 
free of all duty, whether national, state, or municipal, of the articles 
or merchandise named in the following schedule, provided that the 
same be the product and manufacture of the United States of 
America. 

[Here follows schedule of articles.] 

And whereas the Secretary of State has, by my direction, given 
assurance to the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary 
of Brazil at Washington that this action of the Government of 
Brazil in granting exemption of duties to the products and manu- 
factures of the United States of America, is accepted as a due 
reciprocity for the action of Congress, as set forth in section 3 of 
said act : 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Benjamin Harrison, President 



Pitblic Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 267 

of the United States of America, have caused tlie above-stated 
modifications of the tariff law of Brazil to be made public for the 
information of the citizens of the United States of America. 

In testimony whereof, I have herennto set my hand and caused 
the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this fifth day of February, one 
thousand eight hundred and uinety-one, and of the Inde- 
[SEAL.] pendence of the United States of Aiuerica the one hun- 
dred and fifteenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 
B\- the President: 

James G. Blaine, 

Secretary of State. 

[Similar proclamations were issued reciting reciprocal agreements 
as follows: Dominican Republic, August i, 1891 ; Spain (for Cuba 
and Puerto Rico), July 31, 1891; Labrador, December 31, 1891; Ger- 
many, Februar}' i, 1892 ; Great Britain (for certain islands), February 
I, 1892; Nicaragua, March 12, 1892; Honduras, April 30, 1892; 
Guatemala, May 18, 1892. Proclamations were also issued suspend- 
ing the free admission into the United States of sugar, molasses, 
coffee, tea, and hides from Venezuela, Haiti, and Colombia.] 



death of gen. john c. fremont. 

Executive Mansion, 
JVashington, July //, iSgo. 
The death of John C. Fremont, a major-general on the retired list 
of the Armv of the United States, is an event calling for some 
appropriate expression of the national sorrow and of a grateful 
appreciation of his public services. His career was full of adven- 
turous and useful discovery, and of devoted and conspicuous service 
both in civil and military affairs. He opened the passes of the 
Rocky Mountains and gave value to his discoveries by aiding to 
create an American State on the Pacific coast. 

It is therefore ordered that the National flag be displayed at half- 
mast upon all the buildings of the Executive Departments in this 
cit>' until after the funeral shall lia\e taken place. 
B\- direction of the President: 

E. W. Halford, 

Private .Secretary. 



268 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 



death of george bancroft. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington.^ January /p, i8gi. 
The death of George Bancroft, which occurred in the city of 
Washington on Saturday, January 17, at 3:40 o'clock p. m., removes 
from among the living one of the most distinguished Americans. 

As an expression of the public loss and sorrow, the flags of all the 
Executive Departments at Wa.shington and of the public buildings 
in the cities through which the funeral party is to pass, will be 
placed at half-mast on to-morrow and until the body of this eminent 
statesman, scholar, and historian shall rest in the State that gave 
him to his country and to the world. 
By the direction of the President: 

Elijah W. Halford, 

Private Secretary. 



death of hannibal hamlin. 

Executive Mansion, 

J2(ly 6, i8gT. 
To the People of the United States: 

The President, with a profound feeling of sorrow, announces the 
death of Hannibal Hamlin, at one time Vice-President of the United 
States, who died at Bangor, Me. , on the evening of Saturday-, July 4. 
Few men in this country have filled more important and more 
distinguished public positions than Mr. Hamlin, and in recognition 
of his many eminent and varied services, and as an expression of 
the great respect and reverence which are felt for his memory, it is 
ordered that the National flag be displayed at half-mast upon the 
public buildings of the United States on the day of his funeral. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 

William F. Wharton, 

Acting Secretary of State. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijainiii Harrison. 269 



DEATH OF EX-PRESIDENT HAYES. 

KxiicuTivK Mansion, 
]]'asIii)igtoii^ D. C.., January iS., fSi^j. 
To the People of the Pnited States: 

Tlic death of Rutherford B. Hayes, who was President of the 
United States from March 4, 1877, to March 4, 1881, at his home 
in Fremont, Ohio, at 11 p. m. yesterday is an event the announce- 
ment of which will be received with ver\' general and very sincere 
sorrow. His public service extended over man\- years and over a 
wide range of official duty. He was a patriotic citizen, a lover of 
the flag and of our free institutions, an industrious and conscientious 
civil officer, a soldier of dauntless courage, a loyal comrade and 
friend, a sympathetic and helpful neighbor, and the honored head 
of a happy Christian home. He has steadily grown in the public 
esteem, and the impartial historian will not fail to recognize the 
conscientiousness, the manliness, and the courage that so strongly 
characterized his whole public career. 

As an expression of the public sorrow, it is ordered that the 
Executive Mansion and tlie several Executive Departments at 
Washington be draped in mourning and the flags thereon j^laced at 
half-staff, for a period of thirty days, and that on the day of the 
funeral all public business in the Departments be suspended and 
that suitable military and na\'al honors under the orders of the 
Secretaries of War and of the Navy be rendered on that da\'. 

Done at the city of Washington this 18th day of January, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
[SEAL. ] three and of the Independence of the United States of 
America the one hundred and seventeenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 

John W. Foster, 

Secretary of State. 



270 Public Papers and .iddresses of Benjamin Harrison. 



death of hon. james g. blaine. 

Executive Mansion, 
Washington^ January 2y, i8gj. 
To the People of the United States: 

It is my painful duty to announce to the people of the United 
States the death of James Gillespie Blaine, which occurred in this 
city to-day at 11 o'clock. 

For a full generation this eminent citizen has occupied a conspic- 
uous and influential position in the nation. His first public service 
was in the legislature of his State. Afterwards for fourteen years 
he was a member of the national House of Representatives, and 
was three times chosen its Speaker. In 1876 he was elected to the 
Senate. He resigned his seat in that body in 1881 to accept the 
position of Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President Garfield. 
After the tragic death of his chief, he resigned from the Cabinet, 
and, devoting himself to literary work, gave to the public in his 
" Twenty Years of Congress, " a most valuable and enduring con- 
tribution to our political literature. In March, 1S89, he again 
became Secretary of State, and continued to exercise this ofiice until 
June, 1892. His devotion to the public interests, his marked ability, 
and his exalted patriotism have won for him the gratitude and affec- 
tion of his countrymen and the admiration of the world. In the 
varied pursuits of legislation, diplomacy, and literature his genius 
has added new luster to American citizenshiiD. 

As a suitable expression of the national appreciation of his great 
public services and of the general sorrow caused by his death, I 
direct that on the day of his funeral all the Departments of the 
executive branch of the Government at Washington be closed and 
that on all public buildings throughout the United States the 
national flag shall be displayed at half-staff; and that for a period of 
thirty days the Department of State be draped in mourning. 

Done at the city of Washington this twenty-seventh day of Jan- 
uary in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
[seal.] and ninety-three and of the Independence of the United 
States ( f America the one hundred and seventeenth. 

Benj. Harrison. 

By the President: 

John W. Foster, 

Secretary of State. 



Public I'apcrs and . Iddrcssa of Benjamin Ilarrisun. zji 
SPEECHES AND LETTERS. 

THE WASHINGTON CENTENNIAL. 

|At New York Su ^treasury . April SO, 1889. | 

Mr. Chainiiaii, my countryiiieii: Official duty of a very exactino- 
character has made it quite iuipossible that I should deliver au 
address on this occasion. Foreseein^j this, I early notified your com- 
mittee that the programme must not contain any address by me. 
The selection of Mr. Depew as the orator of this occasion makes 
further speech not only difficult, but superfluous. He lias met the 
demand of this great occasion on its own high level. He has brought 
before lis the incidents and the lessons of the first inauguration of 
Washington. We seem to have been a part of that admiring and 
almost adoring throng that filled these streets one hundred years 
ago. 

We have come into the serious, but always inspiring, presence 
of Washington. He was the incarnation of duty, and he teaches 
us to-day this great lesson: That those who would associate their 
names with events that shall outlive a century can only do so by 
high consecration to duty. Self-seeking has no public observance 
or anniversary. Tlie captain who gives to the sea his cargo of goods, 
that he may give safety and deliverance to his imperiled fellow- 
men, has fame; he who lands the cargo has only wages. Washing- 
ton seemed to come to the discharge of the duties of his hieh 
office impressed with a great sense of his unfamiliarity with these 
new calls thrust upon him, modesth- doubtful of his own ability, 
but trusting implicitly in the sustaining helpfulness and grace of 
that God who rules the world, presides in tlie councils of nations, 
and is able to supph' e\'ery human defect. We have made marvel- 
ous progress in material things since then, but the stately and en- 
during shaft that we have erected at the national capital at Wash- 
ington symbolizes the fact that he is still the First American Citi- 
zen. 

[At the Ba.nquet, Metropolitan Opera House — Evening. ] 

Mr. President and fellow-citizens: I should be unjust to myself, 
and, what is more serious, I should be unjust to you, if I did not at 
this first and last opportunity express to nou the deep sense of obli- 
gation and thankfulness which I feel for these many personal and 



272 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjaniin Harrison. 

official courtesies which have been extended to nie since I came to 
take part in this celebration. The official representatives of the 
State of New York and of this great city have attended me with the 
most courteous kindness, omitting no attention that could make my 
stay among you pleasant and gratifying. From you and at the 
hands of those who have thronged the streets of the city to-day I 
have received the most cordial expressions of good will. I would 
not, however, have you understand that these loud acclaims have 
been in any sense appropriated as a personal tribute to myself I 
have realized that there was in this occasion and all these interesting 
incidents which have made it so profoundl)- impressive to nu* mind 
that which was above and greater than any living man. I have 
realized that the tribute of cordial interest which you have mani- 
fested was rendered to that great office which, by the favor of a 
greater people, I now exercise, rather than to me. 

The occasion and all of its incidents will be memorable not only 
in the history of your own city, but in the history of our country. 
New York did not succeed in retaining the seat of National Govern- 
ment here, although she made liberal provision for the assembling 
of the first Congress in the expectation that the Congress might find 
its permanent home here. But though }ou lost that which you 
coveted, I think the representatives here of all the States will agree 
that it was fortunate that the first inauguration of Washington took 
place in the State and city of New York. 

For where in our country could the centennial of the event be so 
worthily celebrated as here? What seaboard offered so magnificent a 
bay on which to display our merchant and naval marine? What 
cit)- offered thoroughfares so magnificent, or a people so great, so 
generous, as New York has poured out to-day to celebrate that event ? 

I have received at the hands of the committee who have been 
charged with the details — onerous, exacting, and too often unthank- 
ful — of this demonstration evidence of their confidence in my ph\s- 
ical endurance. 

I must also acknowledge still one other obligation. The com- 
mittee having in charge the exercises of this event have also given 
me another evidence of their confidence, which has been accom- 
panied with some embarrassment. As I have noticed the progress 
of this banquet, it seemed to me that each of the speakers had been 
made acquainted with his theme before he took his seat at the 
banquet, and that I alone was left to make acquaintance with my 
theme when I sat down to the table. I prefer to substitute for the 
official title which is upon the programme the familiar and fireside 
expression, ' ' Our Country. ' ' 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 273 

I congratulate you to-day, as one of the instructive and inter- 
esting features of this occasion, that these great thoroughfares 
dedicated to trade have closed their doors and covered up the 
insignias of commerce ; that your great exchanges have closed and 
your citizens given themselves up to the observance of the celebra- 
tion in which we are participating. 

I belie\'e that patriotisai has been intensified in many hearts by 
what we have witnessed to-day. I believe that patriotism has been 
placed in a higher and holier fane in many hearts. The bunting 
with which you have covered your walls, these patriotic inscriptions, 
must go down and the wage and trade be resumed again. Here 
may I not ask you to carry those inscriptions that now hang on the 
walls into your homes, into the schools of your city, into all of your 
great institutions where children are gathered, and teach them that 
the eye of the young and the old should look upon that flag as one 
of the familiar glories of every American? Have we not learned 
that no stocks and bonds, nor land, is our country? It is a spiritual 
thought that is in our minds — it is the flag and what it stands for ; 
it is the fireside and the home ; it is the thoughts that are in our 
hearts, born of the inspiration which comes with the story of the 
flag, of martyrs to liberty. It is a graveyard into which a common 
country has gathered the unconscious deeds of those who died that 
the thing might live which we love and call our country, rather 
than anything that can be touched or seen. 

Let me add a thought due to our country's future. Perhaps never 
have we been so well equipped for war upon land as now, and we 
have never seen the time when our people were more smitten with 
the love of peace. To ele\'ate the morals of our people ; to hold 
up the law as that sacred thing which, like tlie ark of God of old, 
may not be touched by irreverent hands, but frowns upon any 
attempt to dethrone its supremacy- ; to unite our people in all that 
makes home comfortable, as well as to give our energies in the 
direction of material advancement, this service may we render. 
And out of this great demonstration let us draw lessons to inspire 
us to consecrate ourselves anew to this love and service of our 
country. 

15151 IS 



274 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 
THE JOHNSTOWN DISASTER. 

(Willard Hall, Washington. June 4, 1889.] 

My fellow-citizens : Everyone here to-day is distressingly con- 
scious of the circumstances which have convened this nieetino. 
It would be wholly superfluous for me to attempt to set before you 
more impressively than the newspapers have already done the 
horrors attending the calamity which has fallen upon the city 
of Johnstown and the neighboring hamlets in a large section of 
PennsN-lvania situated on the Susquehanna River. The grim pencil 
of Dore would be inadequate to portra>- the distress and horrors of 
this visitation. In such meetings as we have to-day here in the 
national capital, and other like gatherings that are taking place in 
all the cities of this land, we have the only relief to the distress and 
darkness of the picture. When such calamitous visitations fall 
upon any section of our country we can only put about the dark 
picture the golden border of love and charity. It is in such fires 
as this that the brotherhood of men is welded. And where more 
appropriately than here at the national capital can we give expres- 
sion to that sympathy and brotherhood which is now so strongly 
appealed to by the distress of large bodies of our fellow-citizens? 

I am glad to say that early this morning, from a city not long 
ago visited with pestilence, and not long ago appealing to the 
charity of the philanthropic people of the whole land for relief — 
the city of Jacksonville, Fla. — there came the reflex, the ebb of 
that tide of charity which flowed toward them, in a telegram from 
the chairman of the relief association of that city authorizing 
me to draw upon them for $2,000 for the relief of the sufferers at 
Johnstown. 

But this is no time for speech. While I talk men and women 
and children are suffering for the relief which we plan to give 
to-day. 

A word or two of practical suggestion and 1 will place this 
meeting in the hands of those who have a.ssembled here to give effect 
to our loving purposes. I have to-da>- had a dispatch from the 
governor of Pennsylvania advising me that communication has just 
been opened with Williamsport, on a branch of the Susquehanna 
River, and that the losses in that section have been appalling; that 
thousands of people there are hungry and homeless and penniless, 
and there is immediate urgency for food to relieve their necessities, 
and he advises me that any supplies of food that can be hastily 
gathered here should be sent direct to Williamsport, where they 



Public Papers and Addresses of Boijaniin Harrison. z-j^ 

will be distributed. I suggest, therefore — and the occasion is such 
that bells might be rung in }our streets to call the attention of the 
thoughtless to this great exigency — that a connnittee should be 
appointed to speedily collect contributions of food in order that a 
train loaded with provisions might be dispatched to-niglit or in the 
early morning to these sufferers. 

I suggest, secondly, that as many of these people ha\e had the 
entire furniture of their houses swept away, and have now only a 
temporary shelter, that a committee be appointed to collect from 
your citizens such articles of clothing, especially bedclothing, as 
can be spared; and, now that the summer season is on, there can 
hardly be many households in Washington that can not spare a 
blanket or a coverlid for the relief of the suffering ones. 

I suggest, thirdly, that, of )'Our substantial business people, 
bankers, and others, there be appointed a committee, who shall 
collect money; for, after the first exigency has passed, there will be 
found in those communities very many who have lost their all, who 
will need aid in the reconstruction of their demolished homes and 
in furnishing them in order that they may be again inhabited. 

Need I say, in conclusion, that as a temporar>' citizen of Wash- 
ington it would give me great satisfaction if the national capital 
should so generously respond to this call of our distressed fellow- 
citizens as to be conspicuous among the cities of the land for its 
ample and generous answer. 

I feel, as I am calling for subscriptions, that I should say that on 
Saturday, on being first apprised of the need at Johnstown, I tele- 
graphed to the mayor of that city my subscription. I do not care 
now or at any time to speak of anything that is so personal as this, 
but I felt it due to yon, as I am placed here to-day to solicit and 
urge others to give, that I should say so much as that. 



G. A. R. NATIONAL ENCAMPMENT. 
[Boston. Mass., August 12, 1889.] 

Mr. Chairman and Comrades of the(irand Arnn of the Republic: 
I had impressions both pleasurable and painful as I looked upon 
the great procession of veterans which swept through the streets of 
this historic capital to-day; pleasurable in the contemplation of so 
many faces of those who shared together the perils and glories of 
the great struggle for the Union; sensations of a mournful sort as 
I thought how seldom we should meet again. Not manj- times 



276 Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaiiiii! Harrison. 

more here. As I have stood in the great National Cemetery at 
Arlington and have seen those silent battalions of the dead, I have 
thought how swiftly the reaper is doing his work and how soon in 
the scattered cemeteries of the land the ashes of all the soldiers of 
the great war shall be gathered to honored graves. And yet I 
could not help but feel that in the sturdy tread of those battalions 
there was yet strength of heart and limb that would not be with- 
held if a present peril should confront the Nation that you love. 
And if Arlington is the death, we see to-day in the springing step 
of those magnificent battalions of the Sons of Veterans the resurrec- 
tion. They are coming on to take our places; the Nation will not 
be defenseless when we are gone, but those who have read about 
the firesides of the veterans' homes, in which they have been born 
and reared, the lessons of patriotism and the stories of heroism will 
come fresh armed to any conflict that may confront us in the future. 
And so to-night we may gather from this maguificent spectacle a 
fresh and strong sense of security for the permanency of our country 
and our free institutions. I thought it altogether proper that I 
should take a brief furlough from official duties at Washington to 
mingle with you here to-day as a comrade, because every President 
of the United States must realize that the strength of the Govern- 
ment, its defense in war, the army that is to muster under its ban- 
ner when our nation is assailed, is to be found here in the masses of 
our people. And so, as my furlough is almost done, and the train 
is already waiting that must bear me back to Washington, I can 
only express again the cordial, sincere, and fraternal interest which 
I feel this day in meeting you all. I can only hope that God will 
so order the jears that are left to you that for you and those who 
are dear to you they may be ordered in all gentleness and sweet- 
ness, in all prosperity and success, and that, when at last the com- 
rades who survive you shall wrap the flag of the Union about your 
body and bear it to the grave, you may die in peace and iu the hope 
of a glorious resurrection. 



SOLDIERS AND SAILORS' MONUMENT. 
(At Indianapolis, August 22, 1889.] 

Mr. President and fellow-citizens: I did not expect to make any 
address on this occasion. It would have been pleasant, if I could 
have found leisure to make suitable preparation, to have accepted 
the invitation of the committee having these exercises in charge to 
deliver an oration. I would have felt it au honor to associate my 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 277 

name with an occasion so great as this. Public duties, however, 
IDrevented the acceptance of the invitation, and I could only promise 
to be present with )-ou to-day. It seemed to me most appropriate 
that I should take part with my fellow-citizens of Indiana in this 
great ceremony. There have been few occasions in the histor>- of 
our State so full of interest, so magnificent, so inspiring, as that 
which we now witness. The suggestion that a monument should 
be builded to commemorate the valor and heroism of those soldiers 
of Indiana who gave their lives for the flag attracted my interest 
from the beginning. Five years ago last January, when tlie people 
assembled in the opera house yonder to unveil the statue which 
had been worthih- set up to our great war governor, I ventured to 
express the hope that near by it, as a twin expression of one great 
sentiment, there might be builded a noble shaft, not to any man, 
not to bear on any of its majestic faces the name of a man, but a 
monument about which the sons of veterans, the mothers of our 
dead, the widows that are yet with us, might gather, and, pointing- 
to the stately shaft, .say: "There is his monument." The hope 
expressed that day is realized now. 

I congratulate the people of Indiana that our legislature has 
generously met the expectations of our patriotic people. I congrat- 
ulate the commission having this great work in charge that they 
have secured a design which will not suffer under the criticism of 
the best artists of the world. I congratulate you that a monument 
so costly as to show that we value that which it commemorates, so 
artistic as to express the sentiment which evoked it, is to stand in 
the capital of Indiana. Does anyone say there is wastefulness 
here? My countrymen, $200,000 has never passed, and never will 
pass, from the treasury of Indiana that will give a better return than 
the expenditure for the erection of this monument. As I have 
witnessed these ceremonies and listened to these patriotic hvmns I 
have read in the faces of the men who stand about me that liftine 
up of the soul, that kindling of patriotic fire, that has made me 
realize that on such occasions the nation is laying deep and strong 
its future security. 

This is a monument by Indiana to Indiana soldiers. lUit I beg 
you to remember that they were only soldiers of Indiana until the 
enlistment oath was taken; that from that hour until they came 
back to the generous State that had sent them forth they were 
soldiers of the Union. So that it seemed to me not inappropriate 
that I should bring to you to-day the sympathy and cheer of the 
loyal people of all the vStates. No American citizen need avoid it 
or pass it with unsympathetic eyes, for, my countrymen, it does not 



278 Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijaiinii Harrison. 

commemorate a war of subjugation. There is not in the United 
States to-day a man who, if he realizes what has occurred since the 
war and has opened his soul to the sight of that which is to come, 
who will not feel that it is good for all our people that victory 
crowned the cause which this monument commemorates. I do 
seriously believe that if we can measure among the States the 
benefits resulting from the preservation of the Union, the rebellious 
States have the larger share. It destroyed an institution that was 
their destruction. It opened the way for a commercial life that, 
if the>- will only embrace it and face the light, means to them a 
development that shall rival the best attainments of the greatest of 
our States. 

And now let me thank you for your pleasant greeting. I have 
felt lifted up b\- this occasion. It seems to me that our spirits have 
been borne up to meet those of the dead and glorified, and that from 
this place we shall go to our homes more resolutely set in our 
purpose as citizens to conserve the peace and welfare of our neigh- 
borhoods, to hold up the dignity and honor of our free institutions, 
and to see that no harm shall come to our country, whether from 
internal dissensions or from the aggressions of a foreign foe. 



TO PAN-AMERICANS, APRIL 19, 1890. 

[In the Executive Mansion.] 

Gentlemen: I find in this parting call of the delegates of the 
Conference of American States both pain and pleasure. I participate 
in the regret which the delegates from the United States feel who 
are to part with those from other countries. I take pleasure in the 
knowledge of the foct that your labors have been brought to a 
happy conclusion. The differences of opinion have been happily 
reconciled. I remark with pleasure the proposition which will be 
productive of peace among the American States represented in tlie 
conference. It will be without excuse if one of them shall lift a 
hostile hand against the other. We gave you the other day a 
review of the small detachment of the American army — not to 
show you that we have an army, but that we have none ; that our 
.securities are lodged with our people and that the>- are safe. 

We rejoice that you have found in the organization of our country 
something which commends itself to your own. We shall be glad 
to receive new lessons in return. In conclusion, I find much to 
approve in the friendly purposes of the Conference toward this 
Government, and I bid each and e\ery one of \ou a heartfelt 
good-bye. 



I'liblli Papds a)ul . Idilrcssi'S of lien jam in J I tv risen. 279 



THE GARFIELD STATUE. 

[At Cleveland, Ollio, May SO. 1890.] 

Mr. Chairman and fellow-citizen.s: I thank )'ou most sincerely for 
this cordial oreeting, but I shall not be betrayed by it into a lengthy 
speech. The selection of this day for the.se exerci.ses — a day con- 
secrated to the memory of those who died that there might be one 
flag of honor and authority in this republic — is most fitting. That 
one flag encircles us with its folds to-day, the unrivaled object of 
our loyal lov-e. 

This monument, so imposing and tasteful, fittingly t>-pifies the 
o-rand and symmetrical character of him in whose honor it has 
been builded. His was "the arduous greatness of things done." 
No friendly hands constructed and placed for his ambition a ladder 
upon which he might climb. His own brave hands framed and 
nailed the cleats upon which he climbed to the heights of public 
usefulness and fame. He never ceased to be student and instructor. 
Turning from peaceful pursuits to arnn- service, he quickh- mastered 
tactics and strateg\-, and in a brief army career taught some valuable 
lessons in militar\- science. Turning again from the field to the 
councils of the state, he stood among the great debaters that have 
made our National Congress illustrious. What he might have been 
or done as President of the United States is chiefly left to friendly 
augury, based upon a career that had no incident of failure or 
inadequacy. The cruel circumstances attending his death had but 
one amelioration — that space of life was given him to teach from 
his dying bed a great lesson of patience and forbearance. His 
mortal part will find honorable rest here, but the les.sons of his life 
and death will continue to be instructive and inspiring incidents in 
American history. 



THE BENNINGTON MONUMENT. 
[At Bennington. Vermont. August 18. 1890.| 

Mr. President and fellow-citizens : There are several obvious 
reasons why I should not attempt to speak to you at this time. 
This great audience is so uncomfortably situated that a further pro- 
longation of these exercises can not be desirable, but the stronger 
reason is that you have just listened with rapt attention to a most 
scholarly and interesting review of those historical incidents which 
have suggested this assemblage and to those lessons which they 



2Xo Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

furnish to thou,<,^htful and jDatriotic men. A son of Vermont, 
honored bv his fellow-citizens, honored by the nation which he 
has served in distinguished public functions, honored by the pro- 
fession of which he is an ornament and an instructor, has spoken for 
Vermont ; and it does not seem to me fit that these golden sentences 
should be marred by any extemporaneous words which I can add. 
I come to you under circumstances that altogether forbid prepara- 
tion. I have no other preparation for speech than this inspiring 
cup of good-will which you have presented to my lips. The most 
cordial welcome which has been extended to me to-day makes it 
unfittine that I should omit to make a cordial acknowledgment of 
it. Perhaps I may be permitted, as a citizen of a Western State, to 
give expression to the high regard and honor in which Vermont is 
held. Perhaps I may assume, as a public officer representing in 
some sense all the States of the Union, to bring to-day their appre- 
ciation of the history and people of this patriotic State. Its history 
is unique, as Mr. Phelps has said. The other colonies staked their 
lives, their fortunes and honor upon the struggle for independence, 
with the assurance that if, by their valor and sacrifice, independence 
was achieved, all these were assured. The inhabitants of the New 
Hampshire grants alone fought with their fellow-countrymen of the 
colonies for liberty, for political independence, unknowing whether, 
when it had been achieved, the property, the homes upon which 
they dwelt, would be assured by the success of the confederate 
colonies. They could not know — they had the gravest reason to 
fear — that when the authority of the confederation of the States 
had been established this very Government, to whose supremacy 
Vermont had so nobly contributed, might lend its authority to the 
establishment of the claims of New York upon their homes ; and 
yet, in all this story, though security of property would undoubtedly 
have been pledged by the royal representative, Vermont took a 
conspicuous, unselfish, and glorious part in achieving the independ- 
ence of the united colonies, trusting to the justice of her cause for 
the ultimate security of the homes of her people. 

It is a most noble and unmatched history ; and if I may deliver 
the message of Indiana as a citizen of that State, and as a public 
officer the message of all the States, I came to say, "Worthy Ver- 
mont!" She has kept the faith unfalteringly from Bennington until 
this day. She has added, in war and peace, many illustrious names 
to our roll of military heroes and of great statesmen. Her repre- 
sentation in the National Congress, as it has been known to me, has 
been conspicuous for its influence, for the position it has assumed 
in committee and in debate, and so far as I can recall, has been 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 281 

without personal reproach. We have occasionally come to Ver- 
mont with a call that did not ori,t,nnate with her j^eople, and those 
have been answered with the same pure, high consecration to public 
duty as has been the case with those who have been chosen by }'our 
suffrages to represent the State, and I found when the difficult task 
of arranging a Cabinet was devolved upon me that I could not get 
along without a Vermont stick in it, and I am sure you have plenty 
of timber left in each of the great political parties. The participa- 
tion of this State in the war of the rebellion was niagnificient. 
Her troops took to the fields of the South that high consecration to 
liberty which had characterized their fathers in the Revolutionary 
struggle. They did not forget, on the hot sa\-annas of the South, 
the green tops of these hills, ever in their vision lifting up their 
hearts in faith that God would again bring the good cause of freedom 
to a just issue. We are to-day approaching the conclusion of a 
summer of extraordinary fruitful ness. How insignificant the stores 
that were gathered at Bennington in 1777 compared with these 
great storehou.ses bursting with fullness to-day! Our excess meets 
the deficiency of Europe, and a ready market is offered for all our 
cereals. We shall grow richer b\- contributions which other coun- 
tries shall make as they take from our storehouses the food needed 
to sustain their people. But after all, it is not the census tables of 
production or of wealth that tell the story of the greatness of this 
country. \'ermont has not been one of the rich States of the Union 
in gold and silver, and its lands have not given the returns that 
some of the fertile ri\'ersides of the West yield. There has been 
here constant effort and honest toil ; but out of all this there has 
been brought a sturdy manhood, which is better than riches, on 
which rather than on wealth the security of our country rests. I 
beg you to accept my sincere thanks again for the evidence of \our 
friendliness, and my apology that the conditions are not such as to 
enable me to speak as I could wish. 

[At the Afternoon Banquet-] 

Mr. President and fellow-citizens: Whatever temporary injur\- 
my voice has suffered was not at the hands of \'ermont. New York 
is responsible. In Albany I spoke in the rain to a large assemblage. 
Perhaps, if it were worth while to trace this vocal infirmitv further, 
I might find its origin at Cape May, for I think I started upon tliis 
trip with the elements of a cold that has to some degree marred the 
pleasure which I had anticipated to-day. But, notwithstanding what 
my friend, General Veazey, has described as "the dilapidated condi- 
tion " of m\' \-oice, I will respond to his request to say a word to you. 



282 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

1 know tliat C.cueral Veazey had been put in charge of tlic trans- 
portation lines of tlie conntry; bnt I did not expect to find him in 
charge of what tlie boys nsed to call the " cracker line." It seems 
that liis capacity for usefulness in the ptiblic service is so great and 
so diversified that )on have called upon him to conduct the exercises 
(jf this magnificent occasion. He is a most excellent Interstate 
Commerce Commissioner, an honor to your State, and I have no 
criticism of him as president of the day, except- that he calls too 
much attention to me. 

This scene, these tables so bountifully and so tastefully spread, was 
one full of beauty when we entered, but it seems now to have taken 
on some of that "dilapidation" which General Veazey ascribed to 
my voice. I am st:re that if the supplies gathered at Bennington 
to-day had been here in 1777 that struggle would have been much 
more obstinate. But, my fellow-citizens, there is much in this 
occasion that is full of instruction to the strangers who by 3'our 
hospitable invitation have the privilege of meeting with you. 
Wherever men may have been born within this galaxy of great 
States, which makes the greater Union, there is respect and honor 
for the New England character. It has been a source of strength 
to the nation in its development in material things. It has furnished 
to literature and to invention some of the largest contributions; but, 
more than all this, it has done a great work for all the States, and 
especially those States of the West and Northwest in which its 
enterprising sons have found new homes, in establishing everywhere 
a love of social order and a patriotic devotion to the Union of States. 
If we seek to find the institutions of New England that have formed 
the character of its own people and have exercised a stronger mold- 
ing influence than that of any other section upon our whole people 
we shall find them, I think, in their temples, in their schools, in 
their town meetings, and in their God-fearing homes. The courage 
of those who fought at Bennington, at Concord, Lexington, Bunker 
Hill, and Saratoga was born of a high trust in God. They were 
men who, fearing God, had naught else to fear. That devotion to 
local self-government which originated and for so long maintained 
the town meeting, establishing and perpetuating a true democracy, 
an equal, full participation and responsibility in all public affairs 
on the part of every citizen, was the cause of the development of 
the love of social order and respect for law which has characterized 
your communities, has made them safe and commemorable abodes 
for your people. These migrations between the States have been 
to your loss, but there is now a turning back to these States of New 
England and to some of its unused farms, which I believe is to 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beii/aii/in J larrisoii. 2S3 

continue and increase. Tlic mi.^ration whicli yon liave sent into 
tlie South to develop its industries, to open its mines, to set u]) 
factories and furnaces, is doiui^' marvelous work in uinf\-ing our 
people. As I journeyed recently across the continent this oneness 
of our people was strongly impressed upon nie. I think these cen- 
tennial observances which have crowded one upon another from 
Concord to the centennial of the adoption of the Constitution and 
the organization of the Supreme Court have turned the thought of 
our people to the most inspiring incident in our histor\-, and have 
greath' intensified and de\'eloped our love of the flag and i>nr Con- 
stitution. I do not believe there has been a time in our history 
when there has been a deeper, fonder love for the unitv of the States, 
for the flag that enil)lematizes this unit}', and for the Constitiition 
which cements it. 

I believe we have come to a time when we may look out to greater 
things. Secure in our institutions, enriched almost l)eyond calcu- 
lation, I believe we have reached a time when we ma\- take a large 
part in the great transactions of the world. I belie\eour people are 
prepared now to insist that the .\merican flag shall again be seen 
upon the sea, and that our merchants and manufacturers are read)' 
to seize the golden opportunity that is now offered for extending 
our commerce into the States of Central and .South America. I 
believe that conservative views of finance will pre\-ail in this coun- 
try. I am sure discontent and temporary distress will not tempt 
our people to forsake those safe lines of public administration in 
which commercial securit\' alone rests. As long as the general 
Government furni.shes the money of the people for their great 
business transactions I believe we will insist, as I liave .said before, 
that every dollar isstied, whether paper or coin, shall be as good and 
be kept as good as any other dollar that issues. The purity, the 
equality of what we call dollars must be preserved, or an element of 
uncertainty and of bankruptc\- will be introduced into all business 
transactions. This I ma\- sa\- without crossing lines of division. 
How this end is to be attained I will not attempt to sketch, but I do 
not hesitate to sa\- that I feel nu'self, in the public interest, pledged 
so far as in me lies to maintain that ecpialit\' between our circulat- 
ing mone\- that is essential to tlic perfect use of all. 

I have gone beyond the promise of the president of tlie day, and 
have been betrayed by your friendliness into speaking two or three 
words. May I, in closing, tender to these good women of \'ermont 
my thanks for the grace and sweetness which their .services and 
their presence have lent to this happ>- occasion? l\Ia\- 1 sa\' to them 
that the de\-oted services of their mothers, their courage and patience 



284 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

and helpfulness shown by the women in the great struggle for 
liberty can not be too highly appreciated? It was an easier fate to 
march with bared breasts against the Hessian ramparts at Benning- 
ton than to sit in the lonely homestead awaiting the issue with 
tearful eyes uplifted to God in prayei for those who periled their 
lives for the cause. All honor to the New England mother, the 
queen of the New England home ! There, in those nurseries of 
virtue and truth, have been found the strongest influences that have 
molded your people for good and led your sons to honor. 



LETTER TO ^A/ESTERN STATES COMMERCIAL CON- 
GRESS. 

Washington, April 7, iSgi. 
Hon. H. B. Kelly, 

Chairman^ Kansas City, Mo.: 

Dear Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
letter of March 24, inviting me to attend the meeting of the com- 
mercial congress of the Western agricultural and mining States, 
to assemble in Kansas City, April 14 to 19, for the purpose of 
considering measures affecting the general agricultural and business 
prosperity of the Mississippi Valley States. I regret that it will 
not be possible for me to accept this invitation. If I am not 
detained here b)- public business I shall probably start about that 
time for the Pacific coast by the Southern route; and if that purpose 
should be thwarted it will be by considerations that will also pre- 
vent the acceptance of your invitation. 

A public discussion of the conditions affecting agricultural and 
business prosperity can not Init be helpful if it is conducted on 
broad lines and is hospitable to differences of opinion. The extra- 
ordinary development of the productions of agriculture which has 
taken place in a recent period in this country by reason of the 
rapid enlargement of the area of tillage under the favoring land 
laws of the United States, very naturally has called attention to 
the value and, indeed, the necessity of larger markets. I am one 
of those who believe that a home market is necessarily the best 
market for the producer, as it measurably emancipates him in pro- 
portion to its nearness from the exactions of the transportation 
companies. If the farmer could deliver his surplus produce to the 
consumer out of his farm wagon his independence and his profits 
would be larger and surer. It seems to me quite possible to attain 
a largely increased market for our staple farm products without 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 28^5 

impairing our home market l)y opening the manufacturing trades 
to a competition in which foreign producers, paying a lower scale 
of wages, would have the advantage. A policy that would reduce 
the number of our people engaged in meclianical pursuits or 
diminish their ability to purchase food products by reducing wages 
can not be helpful to those now engaged in agriculture! The 
farmers insist that the prices of farm products have been too low — 
below the point of fair living and fair profits. I think so too, but 
I venture to remind them that the plea they make involves the 
concession that things may be too cheap. A coat may be too 
cheap as well as corn. The farmer who claims a good living and 
profits for his work should concede the same to every other'^man 
and woman who toils. 

I look with great confidence to the completion of further recii> 
rocal trade arrangements, especially with the Central and South 
American States, as furnishing new and large markets for meats, 
breadstuffs, and an important line of manufactured products. Per- 
sistent and earnest efforts are also being made, and a considerable 
measure of success has already been attained, to secure the removal of 
restrictions which we have regarded as unjust upon the admission 
and use of our meats and live cattle in some of the Phiropean coun- 
tries.^ I look with confidence to a successful termination of the 
pending negotiations, because I can not but a.ssume that when the 
absolutely .satisfactory cliaracter of the sanitary inspections now 
provided b}- our law is made known to those foreign states the>- will 
promptly rela.\ their discriminating regulations. No effort and 
none of the powers vested in the Executive will be left unused to 
•secure an end which is so desirable. 

Your deliberations will probably also embrace consideration of the 
question of the volume and character of our currency. It will not 
be possible and would not be appropriate for me in this letter to 
enter upon any elaborate discussion of these questions. One or two 
things I will say, and first, I believe that every penson who thought- 
fully considers the question will agree with me upon a proposition 
which is at the base of all my consideration of the currency ques- 
tion, namel\-, that any dollar, paper or coin, that is issued by the 
United States must be made and kept in its commercial uses as 
good as any other dollar. So long as an>- paper money issued or 
authorized b\- the United States Go\-ernnient is accepted in com- 
mercial use as the equivalent of the best coined dollar that we 
issue, and so long as every coined dollar, whether of silver or 
gold, is assured of an equivalent value in commercial use, there 
need be no fear as to an excess of money. The more such money 



286 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

the better. But, on the other hand, when any issue of paper or 
coined dollars is, in buying and selling, rated at a less value than 
other paper or coined dollars, we have passed the limit of safe experi- 
ment in finance. If we have dollars of differing values, onl\- the 
poorest will circulate. The farmer and the laborer, who are not 
in hourly touch with the ticker of the telegraph, will require, above 
all other classes of our community, a dollar of full value. Fluctu- 
ations and depreciations are always at the first cost of these classes 
of our community. The banker and the speculator anticipate, dis- 
count, and often profit by such fluctuations. It is very easy, under 
the impulse of excitement of the stress of money stringency, to fall 
into the slough of a depreciated or irredeemable currencw It is a 
very painful and slow business to get out when once in. 

I have always believed, and do now more than ever believe, in 
bimetalism, and favor the fullest use of silver in connection with 
our currenc}- that is compatible with the maintenance of the parity 
of the gold and silver dollars in their commercial uses. Nothing, 
in my judgment, would so much retard the restoration of the free 
use of silver bv the commercial nations of the world as legislation 
adopted b}- us that would result in placing this country upon a 
basis of silver mononietalism. The legislation adopted by the first 
session of the Fifty-first Congress I was assured by leading advo- 
cates of free coinage — representatives of the silver .States — would 
promptly and permanently bring silver to $\. 29 per ounce and keep 
it there. That anticipation has not been realized. Our larger use 
of silver has apparently, and for reasons not yet agreed upon, dimin- 
ished the demand for silver in China and India. 

In view of the fact that it is impossible in this letter to elaborate, 
and that projjositions only can be stated, I am aware that what I 
have said may be assailed in points where it is easily defensible, but 
where I have not attempted to present the argument. 

I have not before, excepting in an official way, expressed my,self 
on these subjects ; but feeling the interest, dignity, and importance 
of the assemblage in whose behalf you speak, I have ventured, 
without bigotry of opinion, without any assnniiDtion of infallibility, 
but as an American citizen, having a most earnest desire that ever\- 
individual and every public act of my life shall conduce to the glory 
of our country and the prosperity of all our people, to submit these 
views for your consideration. 
Very respectfully, 

Benj. Harrison. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beitjaiiiin Harrison. 287 

DECORATION DAY CEREMONIES. 
[In Independence Hall, Pli i ladelphia . May 30. 1891. | 

Mr. Mayor, comrades of the ('irand Arm\- of tlie Republic, and 
fellow-citizens : I esteem it a great pleasure to staud iu this hi.storic 
edifice, in this historic city, to take part to-day as a comrade of the 
Grand Army of the Republic in these instructive and interesting 
exercises, which have been instituted to keep alive in our hearts 
the memories of patriotic devotion and sacrifice. It is eminenth- 
appropriate that we should stand for a little before we go to the 
graves of our dead in this edifice where the foundation declarations 
of independence and of civil government were made and put into 
that course of development which has brought our nation to its 
present position of prosperit\' and of influence among the nations 
of the earth. 

I have receutl)-, in an extended trip, been able to .see what the 
flower is of the seed that was planted liere. We are liere, in Phil- 
adelphia, a communit\- instituted upon the principles of peace and 
good will among men ; and vet, in a communit^■ that had given 
conspicuous illustration of the fact that the fruits of peace ma\" 
sometimes be made to be defended by the valor of soldiers, you did 
not at all depart from the great lessons which were taught by the 
founders of this great colony, when, uniting with your comrades 
from all the .States, you went out into the field to hold up this 
banner ; to maintain a peace which should be perpetual and per- 
vading in all the States. Obedience to law is the first element of 
domestic peace and social order. You went out to maintain, and 
have established, as I believe, again in the affections of all our 
people, the old flag of our fathers, and hav: settled perpetually the 
question of loyal submission to the Constitution and the law in all 
the States. It has been settled to the great contentment and liaj)- 
piness of all our people, and brought what any other nation could 
have brought, prosperity to every section and every State. 

I appreciate most highly this generous welcome which you e.xtend 
to me, and shall take part in these exercises of the day with a sense 
of their fitness and of the great events which they commemorate. 

I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; 
I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were 
appropriate on Decoration Day. I have rather felt that the flag 
should be at the peak, because those whose d>ing we commenujrale 
rejoiced in .seeing it where their valor placed it. We honor them 
iu a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they 



288 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin PInrrison. 

did. We inourii for them as comrades who have departed, but we 
feel the glory of their dying and the glory of their achievement 
covers all our great country, and has set them in an imperishable 
roll of honor. 

[In the Cemetery, Laurel Hill.) 

Commander, comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic and 
fellow-citizens: I have neither the strength nor the voice adequate 
to any extended speech to-day. I come to you as a comrade, to 
take part in the interesting exercises of this Memorial Day. It 
gives me special pleasure to combine with that tribute, which I 
have usually been able to pay since this day was instituted, to the 
dead of all our armies, a special mark of respect to that great soldier 
who won Gettysburg. It is impossible to separate some impressions 
of sorrow from the exercises, for they bring to memory comrades 
who have gone from us. How vividly come to my memory many 
battle scenes; not the impetuous rush of conflict, but the cover of 
.sadness that followed victory. Then it was our sad duty to gather 
from the field the bodies of those who had given the last pledge of 
loyalty. There is open to my vision more than one yawning trench 
in which we laid the dead of the old brigade. We laid them elbow 
touching elbow in the order in which they had stood in the line of 
battle. We left them in the hasty sepulcher and marched on. 
Now we rejoice that a grateful Government has gathered together 
the scattered dust of all of these comrades and placed them in 
beautiful and safe places of honor and repose. I can not but feel 
that if they could speak to us to-day they would say put the flag at 
the top of the mast. I have recently returned from an extended 
tour of the States, and nothing so impressed and .so refreshened me 
as the universal display of this banner of beauty and glory. It 
waved over every school; it was in the hands of the school children. 
As we speeded across the sandy wastes at some solitary place, a 
man, a woman, a child, would come to the door, and wave it in 
loyal greeting. 

Two years ago I saw a sight that has ever been present in my 
memory. As we were going out of the harbor of Newport, about 
midnight, on a dark night, some of the officers of the torpedo 
station had prepared for us a beautiful surprise. The flag at the 
depot station was unseen in the darkness of the night, when sud- 
denly electric search lights were turned on it, bathing it in a flood 
of light. All below the flag was hidden, and it seemed to have not 
touch with earth, but to hang from the battlements of heaven. It 
was as if heaven was approving the human liberty and human 



Public Papers and Addresses of Beiijainiji Harrison. 2S9 

equality typified by that flag. I^et us take ou this occasion a new 
draught of courage, make new vows of consecration, for, my coun- 
trymen, it was not because it was inconvenient that the rebel States 
should go, not that it spoiled the autonomy of the country, but 
because it was unlawful that all this sacrifice had to be made to 
bring them back to their allegiance. Let us not forget that as good 
citizens and good patriots it is our dut^f always to obey the law, and 
to give it our loyal support, and insist that everyone else shall do 
so. There is no more mischievous suggestion made than that the 
soldiers of the Union Army desire to lay any yoke on those who 
fought against us, other than the yoke of the law. We can not ask 
less than that in all relations they shall obey the law, and they shall 
yield to every other man his full rights under the law. 

I thank you for the pleasure of participating in these exercises 
with you to-day, and give you a comr-ade's best wishes, and a com- 
rade's good-bye. 



TO THE VERMONT LEGISLATURE, MONTPELIER, VT. 

lAu.just 26, 1891.] 

Mr. President and gentlemen of the lyCgislature of the State of 
Vermont: I am grateful to you for this cordial reception, which 
crowns a series of friendly demonstrations which began with my 
entry into this good State and have continued to this interesting 
and important occasion. I am glad to meet the chosen repre- 
sentatives of the towns of Vermont, appointed to the discharge of 
functions of legislating for the general good. The wisdom of our 
fathers devised that system of governmental division for the General 
Government which has found adoption or adaptation in all the 
States; the division of the powers of the Government into three great 
coordinate departments — each independent, and yet having close 
and important relations one with the other, and each adapted in the 
highest degree to secure the liberty of the individual, the welfare of 
our community, and the national honor and prosperity. It has been 
fortunate for us as a people that no .serious clash has occurred to 
the.se great departments. The constitutional balance and counter- 
balance have preserved with marvelous exactness, with the per- 
fection of the most perfect machinery, the relations of these several 
departments, each doing, its appropriate work and jjroducing the 
great result which had been intended. Surely there is no other 
country where the springs of government are higher than here. 
The impulses of our people are drawn from springs that lie high 
15151 10 



290 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

in the,hills of duty and loyalty. They respect and obey the law, 
because it is the orderly expression of their own will. The 
compact of our Government is a rule by the majority. The sanction 
of all law is that it is the expression by popular election of the will 
of a majority of our people. Law has no other sanction than that 
with us; and happy are we, and happy are those connnunities where 
the election methods are so honestly and faithfully prescribed and 
observed that no doubt is thrown upon the popular expression and 
no question of the integrity of the ballot is ever raised. If we shall 
ever- or anywhere allow a doubt to settle into the minds of our 
people whether the results of our elections are honestly attaihed, 
whether the laws made are framed by those who have been properly 
chosen by the majority, then all sanction is withdrawn from law 
and all respect from the rulers who by a false ballot are placed in 
public office. 

I am glad to congratulate you upon your constituencies — intelli- 
gent, devoted, and patriotic. I am glad to congratulate you that 
the State of Vermont, from its earliest aspirations and efforts for 
liberty and self-government, which developed into your constitution 
in 1777, down through all the story of toil and the struggles which 
have beset you as a State and the vicissitudes which have beset 
the country of which you are an honored part — that the State of 
Vermont and her .sons in the councils of the nation and on the 
blood-stained battlefields of the great war have borne themselves 
worthily. Will you permit me now to thank you again for this 
demonstration and for the opportunity to stand for a moment in 
your presence? I am sure that we may each, from this occasion, 
in the discharge of public duty, draw some impulse to a more 
perfect exercise of our powers for the public good. 



METHODIST ECUMENICAL CONFERENCE. 
[Metropolitan M. E. Church, Washington, October 7, 1891.1 

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Conference: I come here 
this morning to make an expression of my respect and esteem for 
this great body of delegates assembled from all the countries of the 
world, and much more to give a manifestation of my respect and 
love for that greater body of Christian men and women for whom 
you stand. Every ecumenical conference is a distinct step in the 
direction, not only of the unification of the church, but of the 
unification of the human race. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 291 

Assembling from countries unlike in tlieir civil institutions, from 
chnrches not wholly in accord as to doctrine or church order, you 
come together to find that the unlikeness is not so great as you 
had thought, and to find your common sympathies and common 
purposes greater and larger than you had thought — large enough 
presently to overspread and to extinguish all these transitory lines 
of division. 

I am glad to know that as followers of Wesley, whose hymns we 
sing, you have been in consultation as to the methods by which 
these minor divisions among you might be obliterated. It is the 
natural order that subdivisions should be wiped out before the 
grand divisions of the church can be united. Who does not greatly 
rejoice that the controversial clash of the churches is less than it 
once was; that we hear more of the Master and His teachings of 
love and duty than of hair-splitting theological differences? 

Many years ago, while visiting in Wisconsin, when Sunday came 
around I went with some friends to the little Methodist church in 
an adjoining village. The preacher undertook to overturn my 
Presbyterianism. An irreverent friend who sat beside me as the 
young man delivered his telling blows against Calvinism was 
constantly emphasizing the points made by nudging me with his 
elbow. Now, I am glad to say that very often since then I have 
worshipped in Methodist churches, and that is the last experience 
of that kind I have had. 

You have to-day as the theme of discussion the subject of inter- 
national arbitration; and this being a public, or, in a large sense of 
the word, a political question, perhaps makes my presence here as 
an officer of the United States especially appropriate. 

It is a curious incident that some days ago, and before I was aware 
of the theme or the occasion which we have here this morning, I 
had appointed this afternoon to visit the great gun foundry of the 
United States at the navy-yard. Things have come in their proper 
sequence. I am here at this arbitration meeting before I go to the 
gun factory. 

This subject is one that has long attracted the attention, and I 
think I may say has, perhaps, as greatly attracted the interest and 
adherence of the United States as that of any other Christian power 
in the world. 

It is known to yoti all that in the recent Conference of the Amer- 
ican States at Washington the proposition was distinctly made and 
adopted by the representatives of all, or nearly all, of the govern- 
ments of America that, as applied to this hemisphere, all interna- 
tional disputes should be settled bv arbitration. 



292 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

Of course there are limitations as yet, in the nature of things, to 
the complete and general adoption of such a scheme. It is quite 
possible to apply arbitration to a dispute as to a boundary line; it is 
quite impossible, it seems to me, to apply it to a case of international 
feud. If there is present a disposition to subjugate, an aggressive 
spirit to seize territory, a spirit of national aggrandizement that does 
not stop to consider the rights of other men and other people — to 
such a case and to such a spirit international arbitration has no, or 
if any a remote and difficult, application. 

It is for a Christian sentiment, manifesting itself in a nation, to 
remove forever such causes of dispute; and then what remains will 
be the easy subject of adjustment by fair international arbitration. 
But I had not intended to enter into a discussion of this great 
theme, for the setting forth of which you have appointed those who 
have given it special attention. Let me, therefore, say simply this, 
that for myself — temporarily in a place of influence in this coun- 
try — and much more for the great body of its citizenship, I express 
the desire of America for peace with the whole world. It would 
have been vain to suggest the pulling down of blockhouses or 
family disarmament to the settlers on a hostile Indian frontier. 
They would have told you rightly that the conditions were not ripe. 
And so it may be, and is probably, true that a full application of the 
principle is not presently possible, the devil still being uncliained. 

We will have our gun foundries, and possibly will best promote 
the settlement of international disputes by arbitration, by having 
it understood that if the appeal is to a fiercer tribunal we shall not 
be out of the debate. There is a unity of the Church and of 
humanity, and the lines of progress are the same. 

It is by this great Christian sentiment, characterized not only by 
a high sense of justice, but by a spirit of love and forbearance, 
mastering the civil institutions and governments of the world, that 
we shall approach universal peace and adopt arbitration methods of 
settling disputes. 

Let me thank you, Mr. Chairman, and you gentlemen of this 
conference, for the privilege of standing before you for a moment, 
and for this most cordial welcome which you have given to me. 
I beg to express again my high appreciation of the character of this 
delegation and the membership of the great church from which )ou 
come, and to wish that in your remaining deliberations and in your 
journeys to far-distant homes you may have the guidance and care 
of that God whom we all revere and worship. 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 293 

GRANT MKMORIAL MONUMENT. 
[Riverside Park, New York, April 27, lSy2.] 

Mr. President and fellow-citizens: My assignincnt in connection 
with these exercises has to do with mechanics rather than with 
oratory. The pleasant duty of bringing to our memory to-day those 
brilliant incidents of public service and those personal and manly 
virtues which have placed the name of Ulysses S. Grant so high 
upon the scroll of fame, and settled the love of the man so deeply 
in all patriotic hearts has been devolved upon another, who never 
fails to meet these high occasions with credit to himself and with 
pleasure to all his favored hearers. No orator, however gifted, can 
overpraise General Grant. The most impressive and costly memorial 
structure that an architect can plan or wealth execute is justified 
when the name of Grant is inscribed upon its base. This stone 
which has now been laid, accompanied by this magnificent expres- 
sion of popular interest, is onl}- the top stone of a foundation, but 
it speaks to us of a structure, imposing and graceful in its complete- 
ness, which shall rise from this supporting base. Shall it rise with 
stately progress, without check or tardiness, until the capstone is 
set amid the plaudits of the liberal and patriotic citizens of this 
great city? Thus his fame grew, from Belmont to Appomattox, in 
whose honor this tomb is builded. I am glad to see here what 
seems to me to be adequate assurance that this work, so nobly 
started upon, will be speedily consummated. Your distinguished 
citizen, who has assumed as a labor of love the burden of con- 
ducting this great enterprise, learned of his beloved friend and 
commander to exclude the word "failure" from his vocabulary. 



LAWLESSNESS IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. 

[Letter to the Virginia State Baptist Conventi<:)n. | 

Executive Mansion, 

]Vashington^ May 2/ , iS()2. 
Rev. H. H. MiTCHKLi^ and otiikr.s. 

Committee : 
Gentlemen: When yon called upon me on the 13th day of May, 
just prior to my departure with Mrs. Harrison, I expressed myself 
somewhat fully to you orally upon the subject of the memorial 
which you submitted, and promised to respond in writing at the 
earliest practicable moment. 



294 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjanii)i Harrison. 

Those who have read iny public addresses and official papers 
imist be aware of the fact that I have felt the reproach which 
lawlessness has brought upon some of our communities. I have 
endeavored to hold up the law as the one single admissible rule of 
conduct for good citizens. I have appealed against race discrim- 
inations as to civil rights and immunities, and have asked that law- 
abiding men of all creeds and all colors should unite to discourage 
and to suppress lawlessness. Lynchings are a reproach to any 
community; they impeach the adequacy of our institutions for the 
punishment of crime; they brutalize the participants and shame 
our Christian civilization. I have not time to explain to you the 
limitations of the Federal power further than to say that under the 
Constitution and laws I am, in a large measure, without the power 
to interfere for the prevention or punishment of these offenses. 
You will not need to be assured that the Department of Justice will 
let no case pass that is one of Federal jurisdiction without the most 
strenuous endeavors to bring the guilty persons to punishment. I 
will give the matter you have suggested the most serious consider- 
ation and you may be assured that my voice and help will be given 
to every effort to arouse the conscience of our people and to stimu- 
late efficient efTorts to reestablish the supremacy of the courts and 
l)ublic officers as the only proper agency for the detection and 
punishment of crime and the only security of those who are falsely 
accused. 

With great respect, very truly, yours, 

Benj. Harrison. 



SOLDIERS AND SAILORS' MONUMENT. 

(Roohester, N. Y., May SO, 1892.] 

Fellow-citizens: Every external condition, and some internal 
conditions affecting my strength, admonish me that I should speak 
to you with brevity. I have enjoyed greatly the exercises which 
are now being consummated in this beautiful city. You have met 
a great occasion greatly. I have never seen anywhere a more 
magnificent expression of patriotism than I have witnessed here. 

These streets upon which the institutions of trade have been for 
a time covered with the starr}- banner, this great marching column 
in which the veterans of the war march again to the old music and 
follow with faithful hearts the old flag that they ma)' do honor to 
tho.se brave comrades who were permitted under God to make a 
supremer sacrifice than they to the flag they dearly love ; these 



Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 295 

following companies of the children of our public and parochial 
schools; these banners, the music of drum and fife and bugle, the 
cheering multitude, the great open-hearted, lo\ing expression 
which we saw as we moved along your streets, all testify to the fact 
that our Constitution, our civic institutions, and that glorious flag 
that s^•mbolizes them, are set upon a granite foundation in the 
people's hearts. As the old hymn says, "What can shake our sure 
repose?:' If we should fail, comrades, to meet any occasion of peril 
which may be in the pathway of this nation, it seems to me that 
the trundle-beds of this country would furnish its defenders. War 
is not attractive to our people. We have not many of that class of 
men, of whom we sometimes heard during the war, who would 
rather fight than eat. 

I had one of that class in my regiment, and he got into the ditch 
the first serious engagement we became involved in. No, our 
people are smitten with the love of peace. We had not before the 
civil war so much cultivated in the North as had our friends in the 
South the military spirit. We were a peaceful people. They said, 
but they will say so no more, that we were a craven set of peddlers. 
It took a great deal to separate the home-loving, peaceful people 
from their homes — these farmers and artisans and clerks and pro- 
fessional men. 

It must be a strong pull that could withdraw them from associa- 
tion that so closely bound their affections and their lives, but when 
the moment came and the dreaded war was present, with what 
magnificent self-denial, with what alacrity every family tie and 
every commercial interest were put beneath the supreme duty to 
save the nation and redeem the flag from dishonor. Out of this 
war we have brought a mutual respect that would not otherwise 
have been possible. 

Some of us fancied that the Southern people were given to vapor- 
ing—that each one of them was equal to five Northern soldiers. 
But the South learned that Paul Revere still rode the highways of 
Massachusetts, and that the man of Concord still plowed his fields. 
And we, on our part, learned that the spirit of the cavalier which 
was found in the Southern army was combined with the reserve and 
steadfastness of Cromwell's Ironsides. 

We have found a plane of mutual respect, and I am glad of it; 
and not only this, but we have found a common country. I do not 
think — indeed, I am sure that no war ever waged in history before 
our civil war brought equal blessings to the victor and to the van- 
quished. No companies of weary, sad-eyed captives at the chariot 
wheel adorned our triumph and return. Wc brought into full 



296 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

participation in the glories of restored Union those who had mis- 
takenly sought to destroy it. 

It gladdens my heart now to believe that the love of the old flag 
is so revived in these Southern hearts that they would vie with 
martial ardor to be in front of the charge if we should ever be called 
to meet a common enemy. Glorious victory and God-given and 
God-blessed peace ! No yoke upon the defeated except that yoke 
which we wore, comrades, when we resumed our place as citizens — 
the obligation to obey the Constitution, and all laws made in 
pursuance of it, as the condition of peaceful citizenship. 

We are happy in our great national isolation — happy, as your 
distinguished orator has said, that we do not need to burden our 
people to maintain standing armies, and do not live under a per- 
petual threat that the chariot wheels of war may roll through our 
peaceful villages. No nation in the world is able to wage war, on 
our soil, with the United States, and when the generous work upon 
which we have entered of building, equipping, and manning a 
suitable navy is completed, no nation in the world will be hasty to 
engage us upon the sea. 

We are now entering into competition with the great nations of 
the world in the markets of the world. We will push these purposes 
peacefully. 

The diplomacy of the United States has always been a sentimental 
diplomacy. We do not push our trade by the bayonet, by aggression, 
by the subjugation of helpless people. We pu.sh it only upon the 
basis of friendliness and mutual trade advantage. Holding up the 
dignity and honor of our country, we shall expect others to respect 
our rights as we shall respect theirs. 

United we will enter upon a career of wealth and development,' 
accompanied by the sweet influences of the school, of the churches, 
of the home-refining, thegoldof trade— = by their purifying influences 
to save, under God, the great heritage, committing to His care the 
generation that is to take from our lips these lessons of patriotism 
that they may be fitted, if such an exigency should come, to do the 
part their fathers did. 

What they did who can tell? We say you saved the nation. 
Wlfo can expand that thought until its full meaning is before the 
soul? Who can look down the pages of history and sa}' what one 
issue would have involved in disaster, contention, weakness, and 
blood, and what the other has involved on this ascending plane of 
brightness and glory. 



Public Papers and Addresses of L'ei/jaiiiin Harrison. 297 



two' hundred and fiftieth anniversary of 
woburn, mass. 

Executive Mansion, 
IVas/iiKgton, September 2j, 1892. 

Hon. Edward F. John.son, 

ll^obnrn, Mass. .• 
My Dear Sir : The celebration of the two linndred and fiftieth 
anniversary of the incorporation of Wobnrn, whicli i.s to be held on 
October 7, is an event of snch interest that I would have been glad 
to accept the invitation of the committee to participate in the exer- 
cises which your citizens have planned, if the circumstances had 
been such as to make it possible for me to leave Washington. I very 
much regret that it will be — as your people will understand without 
more particular reference — impossible for me to be present. The 
brave and intelligent founders of our early civil communities are 
worthy of honor ; and this generation will derive profit from a study 
of the influences and principles from which have grown our civil 
o-overnment and our great increase and development as a nation. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

Benj. Harrison. 



receiving riggin statuette. 

[Presented by George W. Turner, Executive Mansion, Fcljruary 8, 1898.] 

Sir : The gift which you tender to me ind the kind and appre- 
ciative words with which you accom4Dany it, are very grateful to 
me. I have felt great interest and enthusiasm in the rebuilding of 
the American Navy. I have felt that it was not only essential as a 
matter of national defense, but that there was a prestige and influ- 
ence for peace and good neighborhood between the nations of the 
earth in the completion and equipment of these great ships that 
nothing else could furnish. As to the incident to which you refer, 
I felt that the honor of our country and of the iSfavy had been 
touched, and that nothing was lei't to us but, in a quiet and digni- 
fied and yet firm way, to insist upon suitable redress. It was given 
in a generous spirit, and I think the result of it has been that our 
relations with that brave people, whose history is so full of martial 
achievements and provvess, as well as with the sister Republics ot 



298 Public Papers and Addresses of Benjamin Harrison. 

South America, are more friendly. International intercourse must 
always proceed upon the basis of mutual respect and a yielding of 
mutual right. No acquiescence in wrong, no tame and spiritless 
submission to injury, can be the basis of respect, and friendship 
must be founded upon respect. 

I thank you, sir, and these generous donors, for this testimonial 
of an incident which I am sure will be regarded as valuable in our 
history. 



HOISTING THE FLAG ON THE STEAMSHIP NEW YORK. 

[February 22. 1893.] 

It gives me pleasure to consummate here to-day, by the act of 
lifting this flag, the efforts in support of a principle to which I give 
my hearty support. 

I have felt as a citizen and as President a mortification which 
every American must feel who examines into the standing of the 
United States in the merchant marine of the world. 

I believe we have reached an epoch in our development when 
we may successfully begin the work of carrying our share of the 
world's commerce upon the seas. 

We lift the flag to-day over one ship, a magnificent specimen of 
the naval art, one of the best on any sea. 

That event is interesting in itself, but its interest to me is in the 
fact that this ship is the type and precursor of many others. 



IN DEX 



Acceptance, letters of : Page. 

Accepting first nomination, 1888 ■ 

Accepting second nomination, 1S92 o 

Address, inaugural -° 

Messages to Congress : 
Annual — 

December 3, 18S9 ^^ 

December I, iSgo ^'5 

December 9,1891 9' 

December 6, 1892 '27 

Special — 

Agreement with the Sac and Fox Indians ■ 167 

Appropriation for the Grand Army of the Rci>ublic igd 

Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands ^A~ ^1" 

Arbitration, international i?" 

Arizona and New Mexico, lands in 168 

Canada, reciprocal trade with ")S 

Additional message 201 

Can.ada, railway transportation through 201 

Chippewa Indians of Minnesota 161 

Choctaw and Chickasaw appropriation, the 18S 

Columbian Exposition, the '94 

Conference Jlnternational American lf'3 

Cullum Memorial Hall, West Point, the I<)7 

Death of Admiral Porter '72 

Death of General Sherman '72 

Distress in OlcLihoma '''9 

Exposition, the Columbian ")4 

Famine in Russia, the '73 

Grand Army of the Republic, appropriation for ")& 

Great Sioux Reservation, the '57 

Hawaiian Islands, annexation of the 214 

International American Bank, an ''>3 

International American Conference, the 'f'3 

International Arbitration '7^ 

International Railway Line '''2 

International Silver Conference ")^ 

Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, the i*>o 

Lands in Arizona and New Mexico I'j'' 

Louisiana State lotterj' '"5 

Miners in the Territories '°7 

Mob at Valparaiso, Chile. '74 

299 



3QO Index. 

Page. 
Messages to Congress — Continued. 

Special — Continued. 

New Mexico and Arizona, lands in i6S 

Oklahoma, distress in i6y 

Porter, Admiral, death of 172 

Postal and cable communications with South America 167 

Rail waj- transportation through Canada 201 

Reciprocal trade with Canada 198 

Reciprocal commercial treaties 164 

Russia, famine in 173 

Sac and Fox Indians, agreements with 167 

Sherman, General, death of 172 

Silver Conference, International 196 

South America, postal and cable communications with 167 

Territories, miners in the 187 

Treaties, reciprocal commercial 164 

Vacancies in office of Secretary' 171 

Valparaiso, Chile, mob at 174 

Additional message 186 

West Point, Cullum Memorial Hall at 197 

Veto- 
Alabama, judicial officers in 239 

Amending the law as to land claims 237 

Bar Harbor, Me., public building at 22g 

Bonds of Maricopa Count}', Ariz 221 

("harles Stivers, retirement of 225 

Chouteau, Charles P., relief of 226 

Circuit courts of appeals 234 

Dallas, Tex., public building at 217 

Debt of Ogden, Utah 216 

District of Columbia, gaming in 227 

Gaming in the District of Columbia 227 

George W. Lawrence, relief of estate of 232 

Hudson, N. Y., public building at 218 

Indian lands, Omaha , 224 

Judicial officers in Alabama 239 

Land claims, amending law as to 237 

Lawrence, George W., relief of estate of 232 

Maricopa County, Ariz., bonds 221 

McGarrahan, William, claim of 235 

Ogden, Utah, debt of 216 

Oklahoma City railroad bonds 229 

Omaha Indian lands 224 

Portland Company, relief of 228 

Promotion of Chief of Record and Pension Office 231 

Public building at — 

Bar Harbor, Me 229 

Dallas, Tex 217 

Hudson, N. Y 218 

Tuscaloosa, Ala 219 

Railroad bonds, Oklahoma City 229 

Record and Pension Office, promotion of chief of 231 

Relief of the Portland (Company 228 

Relief of Charles P. Chouteau 226 



Index. 301 

Page, 

Messages to Congress — Continued. 

Veto — Continued. 

Reservation, Uncompaligie 220 

Retirement of Capt. Charles Stivers 225 

225 



Stivers, Charles, retirement of 

Tuscaloosa, Ala,, public building at 219 



220 
235 



Uncompahgrc Reservation, the .■% 

William McGarrahan, claim of 
Proclamations and orders : 
Admitting new States — 

North Dakota 2,49 

South Dakota 251 

Montana 253 

Washington 255 

Columbus quarto-centenary 244 

Miscellaneous — 

Bancroft, George, death of 26S 

Bering Sea arbitration 2()i 

Blaine, Hon, James G,, death of 270 

Brazil, reciprocity treaty with ofib 

Canal tolls for Canadian goods 247 

Fremont, Gen, John C, death of 267 

Hamlin, Hannibal, death of 26S 

Hayes, ex-President, death of 269 

Modus Vivendi respecting the fur-seal fisheries 25S 

New States, admitting, (See Admitting new States,) 

Opposition to the laws in Wyoming 24^1 

Rcciprocit)' treaty with Brazil 2()(i 

Renewal of the existing modus vivendi in liering Sea 25<) 

Seal fisheries 256 

Wyoming, opposition to the laws in 246 

Thanksgiving, iSSy 24a 

Tiianksgiving, 1S90 241 

Thanksgiving, lSi;I 241 

Thanksgiving, 1892 242 

Washington Centennial anniversary 243 

World's Columbian Exposition. 245 

Speeches and letters: 

Bennington Monument — 

At Bennington, Vt 27<) 

At the afternoon banquet 2S1 

Decoration Day ceremonies — 

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, M.iy 30, 1S91 2S7 

In the cemelery, Laurel Ilill 2S8 

Soldiers and Sailors' Monument, Rochester, N. Y 276 

G, A, R, National Encampment 275 

Garfield statue at Cleveland 279 

Grant Memorial Monument, Riverside Park, New York 293 

Inaugural 26 

Johnstown disaster, the. 274 

Letters — 

Western States Commercial Congress 284 

Two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Woburn, Mass 297 



* 
202 Index. 

Page. 
Speeches and letters— Continued. 

Letters — Continued. , 

Lawlessness in the Southern States 293 

Of acceptance. {See Acceptance, letters of.) 

Southern States, lawlessness in 293 

Methodist Ecumenical Conference 2go 

Pan-Amcrieans, to, April 19, 1890 278 

Receiving Riggin statuette 297 

Soldiers and Sailors' Monument at Indianapolis 294 

Steamship New York, hoisting flag on 298 

Vermont legislature, to the • 289 

Washington Centennial — 

Address at New York Subtreasnry, April 30, 18R9 271 

At the banquet. Metropolitan Opera House, evening 271 

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